Prometheus' Children
by Aesop
Summary: Gargoyles 12.  The clan knows that Demona keeps secrets.  One of those secrets is about the change their lives forever. Please R/R.  You won't regret it.


PROMETHEUS CHILDREN

By Aesop

I dont own the characters from the Gargoyles TV show, or those introduced in the fic series Gargoyle Saga. Im using them without permission, but I earn no profit by writing this. The story idea comes from StorySeeker, to whom I extend my hearty thanks for a great idea.

Aug. 18, 1988

Demona screamed in frustrated rage as she tried and failed to throw off her captors. The one that gripped her right arm staggered slightly and overcompensated when he recovered. Rather than tug at him again she lunged in the direction he pulled, gaining his unwitting assistance in her escape attempt. This time the whole squad staggered and she began to twist and wriggle violently. One leg came free as the wire restraint binding her ankles snapped and she lashed out, gratified by the hoarse scream as her talons tore open a padded uniform and the flesh beneath.

She didnt have long to gloat though. The response was as quick as it was unauthorized. Demona jerked and screamed, this time in pain, as the taser was applied to her back. It had been carefully calibrated to take the fight out of her without doing any permanent damage.

Of course that was before.

The uninjured guards dragged her back to her cell and fastened her restraints without difficulty. Demona could only manage a weak growl as her limbs continued their uncontrolled twitching. Being shocked wasnt the worst part. She knew she would heal, that the humans couldnt permanently damage her, although at the moment she wished they could. The worst part was that the guards breach in protocol guaranteed a visit from the doctor. She had been on her way back from a visit to his lab when she had made her attempt.

It had been pathetic, she realized. A mere six humans had been able to restrain her. Were she at full strength they would have been an irritant, but the drugs they dosed her with robbed her of her strength. They had been using progressively smaller doses and larger numbers of guards for almost two months. Ever since the doctor determined that he had been successful.

"You fools!" The doctor entered the cell, red faced and scowling. "I told you not to use the tasers. Do you want to ruin months of work?!" After checking Demonas restraints he got on with a physical examination. The guards, wisely, made no response. They had been warned and even disciplined for such actions in the past. Despite the pain it caused her, Demona delighted in making such discipline necessary. It was her fervent hope that they would ruin the doctors work.

He finally straightened from the examination Demona had done her best to ignore. "Youre lucky my dear. There doesnt seem to have been any damage." A thoughtful, frustrated look crossed his face. It was a familiar expression to Demona. "If only they had brought me more specimens. The speed with which you heal is remarkable, even discounting your stone hibernation." Demona closed her eyes in frustration. The doctor was on a roll and would torture her with his droning voice and idiotic theories, interrupted only by laments that he only had the one specimen. She knew from experience that this could go on for more than an hour at a time. She didnt know if he thought she was actually interested or whether he was merely in love with the sound of his own voice.

His impromptu lecture was cut mercifully short though by a call from his lab. He listened to the quiet voice over the intercom, one Demona couldnt quite make out. "Ah, the latest test results are in." He smiled, cheering up considerably, "and they look promising. I can hardly wait to see how the latest modifications are working out." He patted her distended belly. "Cheer up. You only have another month, and if my cloning project is successful you wont have to go through this again." He hurried from her cell, leaving only the standard compliment of two guards to watch over her.

As they so often did, Demona thoughts turned to the past. It had been seven months since she had arrived in Atlanta chasing the rumors of winged creatures. She knew it was a long shot, but the chance that there might be gargoyles living in the small town only an hours flight north was simply too good to pass up.

She had learned of the rumors first from a tabloid rag, the kind that humans disregarded as nonsense. Demona, who knew more about magic and the dark places of the world than any living mortal occasionally found interesting tidbits in them though. It had been in such a tabloids that she had learned about and subsequently acquired some of her more interesting magical artifacts. Stories of cursed objects and haunted houses were nothing more than entertainment for most people, but she had learned that there was usually a grain of truth to them.

Centuries ago a laughable rumor about a praying gargoyle had led her to the statue that she knew would someday bring her the vengeance she craved. Humanity would pay for all that they had done to her kind. She swore it. She had sworn it countless times over the centuries. This latest offense was just another on a long list.

This time though, she had to admit that the mess was at least partially of her own making. She had walked into the trap without even suspecting a trap. A hatchling would have been more wary she berated herself. A hidden clan of gargoyles had been the perfect bait.

She had entered the offices of the paper after midnight, easily circumventing the alarms. The archives were easy enough to find and after that, the original photographs that had appeared in the previous weeks issue.

Much to her irritation the originals were no clearer than the pictures that had appeared in the paper. She still couldnt tell if she was looking at a gargoyle or merely a clever bit of photo manipulation. Discarding the pictures she began sorting through the reporters notes. It didnt take long to find the names and addresses of all of the alleged witnesses and the exact location of the sightings. Shoving the notes into her pouch, she quickly left the building and flew north.

Had she waited another night she might have rethought the entire matter. At the very least she might have been more cautious. _What is it the humans say?_ _Woulda__, coulda, shoulda._ She growled in frustration and tested her bonds again as her muscles began to reluctantly obey her commands again. The guards glanced over, but showed no real concern. Even at her full strength the restraints would have held her.

The bonds didnt offer the slightest sign of weakening, and they wouldnt have the chance to weaken as they were due to be replaced during her next visit to the doctor. One of her early escape attempts had taught them that replacing worn restraints periodically was necessary. It didnt take her long to weaken them with the near constant stress she put on them. It had been a costly lesson for her captors. She had slain two guards the first time she broke loose after almost a week of quietly straining at her bonds.

_Get a grip_, she told herself angrily. Her mind had begun to wander of late, roaming from one memory to another with little to connect them. That and the increasingly wild mood swings made devising a means of escape all but impossible. If she wasnt lost in her memories she was lamenting over things she didnt have. It would take only a small vial of this or a few words read from that book. Useless.

As useless, she realized, as kicking herself for past mistakes like eagerly approaching the gargoyle she saw standing on the roof of the old abandoned farm house. It had been a perfect place for a clan to hide, far from any neighbor and apparently falling down from neglect. She hadnt even seen the sniper with the tranquilizer gun.

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She didnt know where she was, having no idea how long shed been unconscious. When she had awakened shed been in a laboratory, chained in a cage. It had long been a concern of hers whether the Sisters spell would protect her stone form during the day, and she had always been careful about her roosting spot. That was no longer an option. Each time she slipped into stone hibernation she feared it would be her last.

Demona hated being afraid. That fear at least had faded. They didnt want to kill her. It was worse.

The testing had begun on her third night there. They had apparently taken blood and tissue samples while she had been unconscious and had spent some time analyzing those before trying to do anything else to her.

The first time they moved her they had simply run enough voltage through her cage to knock her out. She had awakened strapped to a table while a doctor did things to her that she preferred not to remember. His intentions hadnt become clear for several days. At first he hadnt bothered to speak to her. When he had, it was because he was certain he was in control, and he wanted to gloat.

Gloat he had. Especially when he became certain of the results. She had been a captive almost two months, had nearly escaped five times, and had killed or crippled six guards. Having endured countless indignities she was not in the mood to listen to self-important posturing. The chance to learn something about what was being done to her was something she couldnt afford to pass up. So she listened.

"I have good news my dear! The latest test results are positive. Weve succeeded."

"What are you babbling about?"

"The project my dear. Youve made history." He watched her for a moment, a smug look on his face that she desperately wanted to wipe away. "Of course no one has told you what were doing. How foolish of me. Well, you might as well know. It will become obvious soon enough." He paused for dramatic affect. "You are about to become the mother to a whole new breed of gargoyle."

"What?" He wasnt making sense. "What do you mean, new breed?"

"We have successfully merged human and gargoyle DNA. With luck we will produce a gargoyle capable of staying awake during the day." He began to go into detail, patting himself enthusiastically on the back for his cleverness. The technical details would have meant little to her even if she had possessed the scientific background to appreciate them. Demona was in shock.

Human DNA. Half-breeds. Monstrosities. "Nooo!"

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The guards had stunned her into unconsciousness to keep her from hurting herself that first time. After that, the doctor had been much more careful about her restraints. It quickly became obvious that, if given the opportunity, she would abort the pregnancy by any means necessary, even if it meant she would die herself.

It had amazed her that the doctor hadnt guessed that she would survive the wounds. Early on she suspected, the unwanted eggs would not have survived. At some point, however, the spell that protected her had begun to protect them.

Under other circumstances the discovery would have been cause for celebration, but the monstrosities growing inside her were not the continuation of the gargoyle race. They were something that had to be destroyed.

It looked as if shed have to wait until the eggs were laid though.

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Sep. 23, 1988

Demona refused to scream. She gritted her teeth and bore the pain of egg laying. She had done it once before, but the circumstances had been much different then. She had wanted that egg and the hatchling that would eventually emerge from it. All she wanted at the moment was to be rid of the eggs and the pain they were causing. Maybe then she would also be rid of the doctors insipid voice.

"Close now mdear. Only one more push to go." Demona bore down and felt the egg finally slide free. "There you go. Much better. Now. One more time." He was absurdly cheerful, and Demona distracted herself by imagining increasingly painful deaths for him.

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Oct. 16, 1988

"We estimate six months before the eggs hatch."

The doctor looked surprised. "Indeed? Thats much faster than the gargoyle norm."

The technician nodded. "Yes sir, but there are no established norms for a gargoyle-human hybrid. The time from conception to laying was accurate, six months, but there is no way of knowing whether the eggs would follow a normal development pattern after that. There are too many unknowns for more than an educated guess."

The doctor waved him off. "Yes, yes, I know all that. I do hope that they are sufficiently developed when the eggs hatch. It would be terribly disappointing to put all of this time and money into the project only to have two premature corpses to show for our efforts."

"Well, the scans do show that the development is proceeding at a vastly accelerated rate, at least by gargoyle standards."

"Yes, yes, that is how you calculated the time before hatching. I developed these procedures myself you know," he reminded his aide irritably. The doctor wandered off muttering to himself, already lost in thought. The technician watched him go, trying hard to suppress his dislike for the man. As brilliant as the doctor was he was, still an arrogant fool.

Glancing down at the latest test results he frowned, concerned at what he was seeing, or rather what he was not seeing. And he began to worry about what would become of the hatchlings if the doctor did not get the results he wanted. Moving into the control room, he flipped on the monitor. The creature was there, in its restraints as always. It's attempts to injure itself had, predictably, ceased when the eggs were laid. Her attempts to escape had also ceased, which was a little more surprising.

The female gargoyle seemed to have sunk into a deep depression. He wondered if it was something like post-partum depression in humans. Checking the monitors reassured him that her condition was stable. There had been no unusual fluctuations in any of her readings since the eggs were laid and her hormone levels had returned to the baseline established before the pregnancy.

There seemed to be no physical reason for her odd behavior. _At least_, he reflected, _shes not trying to kill us all_. That had been the reason he had steered clear of her. After her first display of temper he had made certain that he was never in the same room with her. The cameras provided a better view anyway. Admittedly, he was curious about her. He had several tests he wanted to run himself, but his curiosity was easily overwhelmed by his survival instinct.

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Feb. 25, 1989

They had almost waited too long. The hatchlings were ready to emerge, but they lacked the strength. Finally the doctor decided that they had to take the risk. Working quickly and carefully, he cracked the shells and gradually removed them.

The results did not make him happy. Sonograms of the eggs had been inconclusive if worrisome. The managements demands for progress kept him on edge. They had sunk an amazing amount of money into the project, his project, and they wanted results, gargoyles that stayed awake during the day and were faster and stronger than the gargoyle norm. To that end they had done an amazing amount of tinkering with the human and gargoyle DNA before combining it.

After that phase tinkering had become more difficult, but a few alterations had been made in order to stabilize what was essentially a new genome. Now the doctor and his technicians looked dumbfounded at the result. Two perfectly normal human babies.

"I dont understand. All of the modifications how could this have happened?" Thinking frantically, the doctor came to a decision. "Take blood and skin samples. Do a complete genetic work up. There has to be something there."

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Mar 01, 1989

"Useless! They are useless. All of the traits are there, but they are recessive." Angrily, the doctor threw down the clipboard containing the latest test results.

"Are you certain sir?" Perhaps those traits can be-"

"Ive already considered that," he snapped, glaring at the technician whod had the misfortune to bring him the bad news. "Management feels weve wasted enough time and effort on this project. The only saving grace is the data weve amassed on gargoyle physiology. It is hoped that if more of them are ever found that they can make more informed decisions." The last two words came out as if he spitting out something sour and the technician knew he was quoting the management directly. It didnt bode well for the doctors future. It would surprise him greatly if the doctor were to be any part of those informed decisions.

Hesitantly he spoke again. "What do they want us to do with the test subject and the hatchlings?"

The doctor shot him an annoyed look but sighed. "Destroy them. Neither the gargoyle or her kiddies are of any use to us." He waved off the technician and turned back to contemplating his own uncertain future. "See to it would you Andy?"

"Yes sir," he replied, carefully restraining his irritation. The doctor hadnt even bothered to learn his name. It was just as well that hed be leaving as soon as his chore was complete. There was a chance that non-essential personnel would be silenced permanently, and he didnt want to be there for the festivities.

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Feb. 06, 2001

David Gawlin turned back and waved to his friend. "Come on Sean, were gonna be late." Sean stopped frantically scratching his back and glared at his best friend.

"Im coming." He tried to run while continuing to scratch his back. "Unngggh! This itching is driving me nuts."

David shrugged. "Think about something else, and use some itch cream."

Sean glared daggers at him. "Easy for you to say. What the heck bit me anyway?"

"Dunno," David shrugged, continuing on his way, carefully hiding his concern from his friend. Sean had been having medical problems for the last few weeks. At first it had been muscle cramps, gradually increasing in frequency and severity, then sore joints. The itching was just the latest. He had considered telling their foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins, about it, but they seemed less than interested in Seans personal problems. If it wasnt life threatening, David doubted they would exceed their monthly stipend from the state. Sadly they were the best either boy had found yet.

Sean had been in the system a lot longer than David, ever since his parents had abandoned him when he was a baby. He had been moved from one foster home to another. David didnt know why Sean was still in foster care. He had heard from others in the foster care system that people were lined up around the block to adopt babies.

For some reason though, Sean U. Travis had never been adopted. Instead he was bounced around from foster home to foster home, never settling long in any one place. It was depressing to think about, and David might have felt sorry for his friend if his own life didnt suck so completely.

Hed been in the foster care system for a little over a year, ever since his father had been killed during a robbery gone bad. Stephen Gawlin had gone to the convenience store on an errand and hadnt come back. It was as simple and as complicated as that. Except it wasnt. Things could have been different.

"Earth to David," Sean had finally caught up with him. "Whats up man? You look like youre thinking some deep thoughts."

"Just thinkin about my dad," David shrugged. "Nothin important."

"Oh." Sean let the silence drag out. He never knew what to say in such situations. Comfort was anything but. It would never be all right, and he doubted his friend would get over it. Stupid sentiments, but since he had none better to offer he kept his mouth shut until they reached school.

The first bell was ringing as they came through the door. David muttered something crude under his breath and ran for his locker. He wouldnt see Sean again until third period so he waved over his shoulder and nearly ran into a girl stepping away from her locker. He dodged around her with a muttered excuse me and picked up his pace.

Susan cast an annoyed glance at the boy who had nearly run into her and looked down at the schedule in her hand. She then flipped it over to look at the map of the building. Orienting herself, she picked the shortest route and headed for her first class. The first class of her first day at the new school in a new city. New York. _Wow, thats a lot of new_, she thought, smiling slightly at her own joke.

She had too much on her mind to make much of an effort. Moving to New York and starting over wasnt enough. Oh no. Her parents had decided that she was old enough to know the truth. Why they thought she would want to know was beyond her, but it wasnt something they could take back. So she just had to deal with it.

First up was biology. Entering room 112, she took the note from the front office to the teacher, a short balding man. He looked at the paper and nodded. "New in New York?" She nodded. "Well, were a bit cramped, but there is a seat at the back, near the door." He gestured and she made her way to the desk he indicated as the rest of the students filed in. She got a couple of curious looks from students, but no one approached her or spoke to her, something which suited Susan fine given her current mood.

"All right everyone, before we get started today, we have a new student." He glanced down at the note hed made for himself and then gestured at her. "This is Susan Muller." She waved half-heartedly at the few students who glanced her way.

_Susan Trevain_, she silently corrected, _Susan O. Trevain_. That was her real name according to her parents. No one knew what the O. was for. The name had been stitched on the baby blanket she was wrapped in when shed been found. A search had been conducted for her family, but no trace of them had ever turned up. A few months later, when she was roughly 6 months old, shed been adopted by Chris and Irene Muller.

Three days ago, on the day they celebrated as her 12th birthday, they had told her the truth. It hadnt been the surprise shed been hoping for. She couldnt think of any good reason she should need to know. After all, shed been perfectly happy being Susan Muller.

Susan pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and attempted to concentrate on the lesson while absently scratching the twin irritations on her back.

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Mar. 05, 2001

"You look awful man."

Sean glanced at his friend as they hurried from their second period class to their third. "I feel awful, its a set." Over the past months his physical problems had gotten worse. The spots on his back that he had thought were bug bites had grown and swollen into two elongated masses on his back, they werent noticeably under his clothing, but they continued to itch and to actually hurt at times. He had complained to his foster parents after a time, but their only response had been to apply some anti-itch cream. He had asked to go to the doctor, but Mr. Hopkins didnt believe it was that serious. The muscle cramps had continued and gotten worse, and were now accompanied by splitting headaches that, while usually brief, were completely debilitating while they lasted.

David had been a big help, finishing Seans chores when he couldnt, getting painkillers for him and trying to convince their foster parents that the problem warranted a trip to the doctor. He hadnt had much success. They were simply too cheap, and it baffled him how the Hopkins had become foster parents to begin with.

Sean stopped to rest against the wall as another cramp seized his left leg. Gritting his teeth he waited it out while rubbing his calf. "Ill be fine," he insisted when he saw Davids worried expression.

"Okay man, if you say so." When the cramp faded they continued on to their next class. David was silently grateful that they had so many together. It allowed him to keep an eye on his friend.

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Mar. 07, 2001

"Try to hold still dear," her mother admonished.

"I hate needles," Susan complained, "especially when theyre in me! Ouch!"

"I hate needles too," Dr. Benjamin assured her, "but Ill be done in a second." She finished taking the blood sample and withdrew the needle. "There we go. I can get the results in a couple of days."

"Ive done this before," she said rubbing her arm. "Whats different about this blood sample?" Dr. Carrie Benjamin was the third doctor she had seen in an effort to find out what was behind her strange symptoms. Her parents were worried but they tried not to show it. The first two doctors had run tests of their own before confessing bafflement and passing the buck.

Both had seen her symptoms as separate problems, the itchy swellings on her back, the muscle cramps, and most recently the headaches had nothing to do with each other. They only smiled tolerantly when she pointed out that the problems had started at about the same time. It never occurred to her that the problems were unrelated. Attempts to treat the problems though, topical ointments, painkillers, and a truly nasty tasting bottle of something called quinine water, failed to have the desired results.

Benjamin at least seemed to consider the possibility. Starting with that idea in mind she had decided to run tests to see if she could identify a root cause for all of the problems. At the moment she couldnt think what that cause might be, but the files from the previous physicians had done nothing but rule out several obvious and, Benjamin thought privately, rather unlikely possibilities. The obvious had to be ruled out of course, as well as several serious, if improbable conditions, but they had refused to see the problems as symptoms of a single ailment. She mulled over the problem as she secured the various samples she had taken for delivery to the lab.

"Id like to see what the tests have to say before I try to diagnose the problem. Im hoping theyll point toward a root cause. When we can attack the problem at its source well see some results."

"What about the cramps and headaches?" Susan asked. "It makes it hard to concentrate in school."

"Do the painkillers Dr. Morris prescribed help any?"

"Some, but not much," her patient allowed. "And I hate the stuff they gave me for the cramps."

Dr. Benjamin made a sympathetic noise, but shook her head. "Unfortunately, until I have a better idea of what were dealing with the medications he prescribed are probably the best available. I should have news soon though."

After doing what she could to reassure both patient and parents, she walked the samples to the hospital lab personally and asked that a rush be put on the tests. There were things shed seen in the preliminary blood work the previous doctors had done that worried her. It was somehow familiar, although she wasnt sure why.

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The theft was surprisingly easy to accomplish. There was minimal security at the lab and as long as a person looked like they belonged there, no one would ask questions. Josh Sutter had long ago discovered that he could blend in almost anywhere. It was a talent that came in quite handy, meshing nicely with the nondescript face that people tended to forget as soon as theyd seen.

Getting test results and a blood sample from the hospital lab proved no challenge at all. Acting the part of an intern or orderly as the circumstances dictated was easy. Acting as if his employer didnt give him the creeps; that was hard.

"Doc?" He entered the private office and headed through the door to the small but well equipped lab hidden in back. It was, ostensibly the office of a business enterprise consultant. The doc had come up with that himself. It didnt mean anything, he had told Sutter, but it kept people from bothering him. Josh supposed it must work, because as far as he knew, he was the only one besides the doc himself who ever came to the office.

"Back here my boy. How did your little errand go?"

"No problems doc." He opened the case he carried and brought out the papers and the test tube containing Susan Trevains blood sample.

"Excellent. Did you find any trace of her brother?"

"Theres no medical records for him beyond standard immunizations. Are you sure its happening to him too?"

"Oh yes," the doctor nodded, scanning the test results with relish. "If these results, crude as the tests were, are accurate then everything is proceeding on to schedule. I can only assume that his foster parents have neglected to get the poor boy proper medical attention. Tsk, tsk. Absolutely shameful." The docs tone made it clear he was annoyed with the inconvenience the neglect caused him. Josh doubted he cared about the kid. The docs next words confirmed that. "We may have to fetch him and run the tests here."

Josh was careful not to show any reaction. He had no problems with con games and petty theft, but he had never kidnapped anyone before. Josh had no moral qualms with the assignment, only practical concerns. He decided to keep them to himself though, having learned that it wasnt smart to disagree with the doc, and it was downright unhealthy to disobey. The pay was good, that was undeniable, but the risks were beginning to outweigh the benefit. And risk aside, the doc gave him the creeps.

Oblivious to the other mans ruminations, the doc continued to think out loud as he reviewed the test results. "It may not matter anyway. I was planning on bringing them both in regardless. Study of the children as the change progresses should prove fascinating, especially when they are given the catalyst. If my calculations are correct the change should accelerate by a factor of ten, the change will take hours instead of months." He practically drooled at the prospect. "Yes. This will be fascinating. You wouldnt believe how long Ive waited for this my boy." He turned back to Josh. "Begin watching young Sean. Learn his patterns and be ready to bring him to me when I am ready."

"Okay doc. Ill be ready." He considered saying more, raising some practical concerns about snatching the kid, but the doc had already turned away, effectively dismissing him. His attention was fully on his grand scheme and he had no real interest in the details as long as they didnt interfere with what he wanted.

Josh turned and left the lab. He had the boys home address and knew where both children went to school. He wondered briefly if the doc had somehow arranged that, but then decided that it wasnt important. So many of the docs actions and motivations were a mystery to him that one more didnt really matter.

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Mar. 10, 2001

Sean leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He ached all over and he wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and wait for it to pass. He was sick of trying to convince his foster parents he needed help. They would just give him some painkillers and, if he was lucky, a day off from school. It was getting worse. Until two days ago the symptoms of whatever it was had been manageable. He could almost ignore it much of the time. Now that was impossible. It really flared up at sunset for some reason.

It was getting close to sunset and he was trying to walk home from school. His foster parents had insisted that he go, choosing not to believe that he was doing anything more than skipping a math test, so he had gone. It was hard going though, he had been exhausted all day, and had come close to falling asleep in class, something which displeased the teachers whose lectures hed yawned through mightily.

It wasnt fair, he groused silently. What was happening, whatever it was, wasnt his fault. The anger lent him a little strength and he pushed off towards home. "Hey, Sean isnt it?" Sean looked up to see a vaguely familiar looking man watching him from his car. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he answered automatically, ""

"Sam," the man offered. "I live a few houses down from you. Seen you at that little grocery a block over?"

"Oh. Yeah. Hi Sam." He continued to plod onward.

"Man, you look beat, and its still a half-mile to your house. Want a lift?" Sean gave the man an appraising look, realizing that he wasnt sure hed ever actually met the man before. One of his former foster parents had told him once never to accept rides from strangers. It still seemed like good advice, but he was sorely tempted. Weighing his options for a few seconds he finally let his fatigue win the argument.

"Thanks." He opened the door and collapsed into the passengers seat. Hed barely shut the door before drifting off to sleep.

Josh stared at the sleeping child in mild astonishment. "Well that was easy." He glanced down at the rag and bottle of chloroform in the pocket of the drivers side door and shrugged before putting the car in gear and driving toward the docs lab.

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Sean woke up in an unfamiliar room. It looked very much like a doctors examining room. He sat up, his body ached horribly, and he felt dizzy when he tried to stand. Giving it up as a bad idea for the moment he called out instead.

The door opened and a man in lab coat came in. "Ah, youre awake. Excellent. I was getting worried."

"Where am I?" Sean demanded. The lab coat hung on the mans sparse frame over neatly tailored and expensive looking suit. The neatly combed red hair was a shade lighter than Seans own, and framed a face that might have been handsome if not for the look of supreme arrogance. The man attempted a comforting smile, but didnt quite make it. He was looking at him almost hungrily. The man made Sean nervous.

"You are in my office. You apparently had some kind of seizure while your friend was driving you home and lost consciousness. He brought you to me immediately. Ive asked him to contact your parents and they should be here shortly." A lie, but it was one that should keep the boy from becoming difficult. "Now why dont you tell me whats been happening with you lately? And how you feel now hmm?"

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Mar. 11 2001

Elisa Maza didnt usually handle kidnappings, and she wasnt sure how the case got routed to her. When she arrived at the Hopkins home, she was met by an uniformed officer that looked to be fresh out of the academy. "Detective. Glad youre here. The parents arent being terribly helpful. They dont seem to know anything useful. He left for school yesterday morning. They havent seen him since."

"When did the call come in?" She asked, glancing at her watch.

"This morning, about 6:00."

Elisa grimaced, not looking forward to dealing with the parents. What they had been thinking was beyond her. "All right. Where are they?"

The officer pointed toward the front porch. "Inside, with their other foster kid. Apparently he saw the missing boy get into a car and saw it drive away."

"Any information on the car?"

"Yes detective. He didnt get the full license number, but he gave us a partial and a description of the car. Theyre all inside waiting to talk to you."

Elisa nodded and moved into the house. Four pairs of eyes turned to her. The uniform stood and nodded to Elisa, closing his notebook. "Detective Maza." She nodded.

"Ill take it from here Henson." He nodded and moved out the door while Elisa sat down facing the worried couple. "Can you tell me what happened? When did you seen Sean last?"

"When he was going to school yesterday," Mr. Hopkins answered. "He was complaining about having to go, I think he had a test or something. You know kids." Elisa saw the look the boy sitting next to him shot his foster father. "We called the school when he was late and they said that he had been there and gone home as usual. We called some of his friends, tried to find him ourselves before we caused any needless problems by calling the police."

"I see. Youve heard nothing since? No one has called?"

"You mean like with ransom demands? Were not rich people Detective. It wouldnt be worth it. We cant afford to pay much."

Elisa secretly agreed, but it was something that had to be ruled out. There were more disturbing possibilities that, frankly, made the prospect of a ransom demand almost pleasant. She wasnt ready to panic them with that yet. She looked at the boy, her only witness according to the uniform. "You were the last to see him?" He nodded. "And your name?"

"David Gawlin. Yeah. I told them," he glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins, "that I saw him get into a car, but they insisted on calling around."

"Did you recognize the car?" David shook his head. "What about the driver?" Again a negative. "Can you give me a description?"

"Yeah." He gave her a partial plate number and described a battered red Ford with a dented fender. All he could tell about the driver was that he had been a young white male. "He shouldntve gone to school anyway, not sick like that." Mr. Hopkins shot David an annoyed look and rolled his eyes.

"He was sick?"

"Has been for a while."

"Does he need any medication? Something he needs regularly?" The possibility of a deadline in that respect crossed her mind.

David shook his head. "Hes never been to a doctor about this."

Mr. Hopkins snorted. "No doctor could help him get over not liking school. Hed complain that he couldnt go, but his complaints shifted daily. Kids just lazy."

Elisa made a non-committal noise. Hopkins might be right, but it didnt make his attitude any less irritating. The man was salesman, not a doctor. The possibility that the boy could be seriously ill was a problem. Disturbing as it was though, it was not her most immediate concern. "Can you tell me why he might have gotten into the car?"

David thought a moment, frowning thoughtfully. "Well, he was sick like I said. He got tired easy. He might have gotten into the car if he was offered a ride home."

That would mean that the person who took him might have known he was ill. If it wasnt a random snatch then she might have a lead. It was worth following up, but she would need more information first. "Who else knew he was sick?"

"A couple of people at school," he shrugged. "Im not sure."

Someone at the school might have known his schedule and the best place and time to pick him up. "All right. Thats all for now. I want to get on this plate number and description as quickly as I can." She offered what assurances she could and left the house.

************************************************************************

Mar. 12 2001

Carrie Benjamin straightened from her examination of the slide and rubbed her eyes. The evidence under the microscope was undeniable if baffling. The DNA tests, even with a priority rush on them wouldnt be back for a week, but it would only be confirmation. That was after the delay of having to obtain another blood sample. How the lab had managed to lose the first was still a mystery to her.

Setting that thought aside, she picked up the form detailing the results of the blood tests and reviewed them for any errors. If there was some other explanation she would have found it. No other physician, with the possible exception of Hadely, would have believed it, and even he might have had trouble accepting the evidence. She would wait for all of the results, assemble a clear clinical picture, before telling anyone, least of all the Mullers, about her findings.

She could, however, get some more information from the Mullers. Carrie knew that Susan was adopted, but there had to be something they could tell her about the girls birth parents. Once back in the small cubbyhole the hospital allowed her for office space, she pulled the file from its place in her desk and began to review what she knew. One of her earlier doctors had already considered the possibility of a genetic disorder and had questioned them thoroughly about the adoption.

Sadly, they knew nothing of her parents. Apparently Susan had been abandoned. The only clue to her identity was a baby blanket with the name Susan O. Trevain. No trace of her family had ever been found. Assuring herself that querying the family would be pointless and would only worry them at this point, she decided to take another tack. She needed a specialist. Picking up the phone she began to dial.

A phone rang at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. The switchboard operator quickly routed the call to the office requested and a man wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and a kipah stopped with his hand on the doorknob. Glancing at his watch, he sighed and returned to his desk. "Hello. Goldblum here."

************************************************************************

Mar. 13, 2001

Susan had been cooped up for the last two days, and while she didnt really feel well enough to be up and about she was going stir crazy. Despite her bodys various complaints she decided that a walk might help her feel better. Moving it slowly, she left the house, just intending for a quick walk around the block to stretch her legs. She didnt notice the red ford parked down the street and thought nothing of it when the car pulled away from the curb as soon as she reached the corner. It pulled even with her as she reached the middle of the block.

Susan glanced over warily when the car stopped and picked up her pace. The passengers side window came down and a voice called from inside. "Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Pennfield rd.?" Susan shook her head and kept walking. "I know its around here somewhere."

"I havent lived here long," she offered, hoping the man would move on, but not wanting to be impolite. "I dont know where it is."

"Oh," Josh grimaced. So much for doing it the easy way. The doc wanted the girl that day; there was no time for a more subtle approach. Braking suddenly and putting the car in park, he slid across the seat, opened the door and grabbed her by the arm.

Susan screamed as he yanked her into the car and pinned her against him with one arm while he closed the door and got the car moving again. This wasnt the neatest or easiest way to do it. Definitely not the easiest he reflected as she sank her teeth into his arm.

Pressing the rag over her nose caused her to loose her hold as the chloroform took effect. He was amazed to see that he was bleeding when he shoved her back into the seat. He placed a hand over his wound as he drove away as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. Once he reached a safe distance he reached over and pulled back the girls upper lip. Her canines seemed to be longer than the norm, as he suspected. What it meant was beyond him. The doc wasnt in to explanations, but Josh had picked up a few things from listening to his exposition.

His self-congratulatory monologues were informative if annoying. They also tended to be frightening. Descriptions of his experiments and his plans for future experiments were always disturbing, but some of the things he said werent nearly as frightening as some of the things he hinted at.

Putting the docs plans out of his mind, Josh concentrated on getting back to the lab. He watched carefully as he took a roundabout way through the city. He couldnt see any sign of pursuit so he returned to the lab, concluding that no one had seen him snatch the girl.

He moved into the underground garage, and guided the barely conscious girl to the elevator and up to the lab. "Doc. I got her."

"Oh good, good." He stopped when he saw the blood. "What happened to you?"

"She bit me. Kids got the weirdest teeth Ive ever seen."

"Indeed?" He checked for himself while tapping the bubbles out of the hypo he was holding. "She seems to be progressing more rapidly than her brother. Unexpected, but nothing to be concerned about." He quickly swabbed her arm and drew a blood sample before injecting a tranquilizer. "That should keep her under for a few hours, while I prepare the tests."

Josh nodded but realized the doc had already forgotten about him. He turned and left the room. There were details to be tended to, like wiping the car of prints and ditching it somewhere far away. "Im headed out doc. Gotta wrap up the details."

"Yes, yes, you do that," he answered distractedly. He moved toward the lab, knowing that he would have to check on the boy soon. Sean was getting antsy. He had been told part of the truth, and he would hear more, as well a few carefully prepared lies as soon as Susan was prepared to join them.

************************************************************************

Irene Muller refused to settle. She was frantic and pacing apparently kept her from flying apart. It was not an unusual reaction, Elisa knew, but it was distracting. "Do you know why she went outside?" she tried. "Would she have gone with someone?"

"No one I know of," Irene said.

"She was snatched off the street," the neighbor who had called spoke up. "She didnt leave the house with him. She was out walking."

"Why?" Irene asked. "She was supposed to stay in bed. Doctors orders."

"You know her," her husband answered calmly. "She was getting tired of staying in bed. Always has to be on the move, thats her. Poor kid was probably going stir crazy." He focused on Elisa. "You need to find her quickly. Shes sick, has been for some time now."

"Whats wrong with her? Does she require any special medication?"

Chris Muller shook his head. "The doctor wasnt sure what the problem was. Shes on painkillers and stuff for the muscle cramps she was having, but nothing specific."

Elisas eyes narrowed. This conversation was sounding very familiar. It had been the report of a red Ford and the complete plate number, that had drawn her to this call. The description provided of the car was identical to the one David Gawlin had given.

"Ill need a recent picture of the girl for flyers." Flyers and news bulletins about Sean Travis were already circulating, but as yet there hadnt been any calls about him. If Susan had been taken by the same man and it seemed that she had it was unlikely that press coverage would help matters. Still it was part of the process that couldnt be overlooked. One never knew when an observant bystander would turn up a useful lead.

"Oh. Y-yes of course." Mrs. Muller took a picture off the mantle. "This was taken last month."

Elisa glanced at the picture and then did a double take. She glanced up at the parents, who looked nothing like the girl in the picture. "Mrs. Muller. Um, is Susan by any chance adopted?"

"How did you know?" Chris Muller asked. He glanced at his wife. "We only told Susan a few months ago, in February."

Elisa frowned. "Its a bit early to say," she answered hesitantly. "Do you know anything about her biological parents?"

"No." Irene answered this time, shaking her head. "She was found when she was a baby. Someone abandoned her." A tone of righteous indignation crept into her voice. What sort of person abandons their own baby?"

"Is there anything you can tell me about the circumstances?"

"No, she was abandoned at a church, wrapped in a blanket with her name on it."

"You didnt name her?"

"Just the last name," Chris answered. "The name on the blanket was Susan O. Trevain." He spelled the last name for her.

"O?" Elisa paused in writing down the name.

"Yeah, I thought that a little odd. Never seen a middle initial stitched on a blanket before."

"Odd," she agreed, her tone non-committal. So, both kidnapped children had been adopted. Both had the same red hair and facial features similar enough to indicate that they were related. Both children were sick. Could the biological parents be retrieving them? It was hard to tell with so few leads as to who their parents might be, but the car offered some hope of identifying the kidnapper. That was their best chance of getting both children back.

"Who was treating your daughter?" Elisa got the details and wrapped up the interview as quickly as possible. She used her cell phone to put Matt onto the red Ford and headed straight for Benjamins office, with the picture of Susan and the flyer about Sean Travis. Sean U. Travis. There was that baby blanket oddity again. The only thing she had learned about the boy was that he had been found at a church in Brooklyn, wrapped in a baby blanket with his name on it. That name had included the middle initial. It had been included in the report of the officers who investigated the initial call because it seemed odd to them.

Susan had been born in Atlanta it seemed. At least she had been found there. Elisa suspected that if she checked she would find that the two had been abandoned only a day or so apart. The question was, what did it all mean? It was starting to look as if the two were connected, probably related, but what was behind it all was still a mystery. Perhaps Carrie Benjamin would have some of the answers.

************************************************************************

"You think the two kidnappings are related?"

Elisa nodded. "Yes." She explained her reasoning. Not exactly standard procedure in a police investigation, but she had trusted Dr. Benjamin with bigger secrets. Benjamin frowned thoughtfully as she listened and grew increasingly alarmed. "Do you think theres some connection?"

"Judging by the photos, Id say its a distinct possibility, but its impossible to tell without running tests on the boy. If the same thing is happening to him that is happening to Susan Muller Im sorry. I cant say much about that without the familys permission. Doctor patient confidentiality."

"Under the circumstances that can be waived. This is a criminal investigation," Elisa pointed out. "If you feel it necessary contact her parents. I doubt theyll object."

"Very well. Give me a moment detective." She found Susans parents waiting by the phone and quickly got their permission to aid the investigation in any way she could. They insisted on it. When she hung up she thought for a moment, looking pensive. "I think, detective, that I might not be the best one to explain. I brought in a specialist to evaluate the test results I got back, because frankly what they showed was unbelievable."

"What kind of specialist?"

"A geneticist. Dr. Daniel Goldblum." She saw Elisas expression and asked, "you know of him?"

"Yes. Hes working to undo Sevarius handiwork. Why would you need a geneticist?" Elisa felt an uneasy churning in her stomach. It was a familiar feeling, one that often hit her when she was on the verge of making a connection, before the pieces of a puzzle fell together into a particularly ugly picture.

Dr. Benjamin opened her mouth to answer and then closed it. After a moments thought she sighed. "It might be best if we heard from Dr. Goldblum on this. All I can do is speculate," _and hope Im wrong_, she added silently.

They made arrangements to meet Goldblum at his lab in the Labyrinth that evening. She felt it was a better place to discuss what doctor Goldblum had learned. The uneasy feeling in Elisas stomach grew to something just shy of nausea when Benjamin told her this. She quickly agreed though, and said they would meet at the main entrance of the warehouse that served as a front for the Xanatos-Renard Foundation to Help the Homeless.

Elisa returned to the precinct and spent an hour chasing down possible leads. After reviewing everything she knew about the children and the vehicle that had spirited both away, she made calls to the DMV in two neighboring states. The only possibility was a stolen Ford in Jersey. It was the right color and had a dent in the same place, but the plate didnt match. Rechecking her notes she remembered that the car had New York plates. Plates which could have easily been stolen. Depending on where the plates came from it might be days before the owner noticed. Why the plates themselves werent turning up anything in the system, no one could explain immediately. Elisa checked with the New York DMV again and had them run variations on the plate number shed been given.

Checking the possibilities would take some time, so she logged off work an hour before sunset and headed for the labyrinth. It was still two hours before her meeting with Benjamin and Goldblum, but, she reminded herself, she did have other priorities these days.

************************************************************************

Elisa rounded the corner leading to the mutates living quarters and was nearly bowled over. Staggering slightly, she reached down and picked up her son.

"Amma!" Tom cried happily and hugged her. Elisa returned the hug briefly and then held him at arms length surveying his appearance.

"Oh good!" Maggie came panting up. "You caught him."

"Escaped from another bath," she deduced, giving the dripping toddler a mock severe look. Tom laughed unrepentantly and began to wiggle, clearly wanting down. "Ill finish up the bath," Elisa offered. "Hes already gotten me wet anyway." Shifting Tom to a more comfortable position she headed for the tub.

For a time she set aside her worries about the case and what she would learn in order to enjoy the time with her son. Tom was more cooperative than he had been with Maggie, but he still managed to soak her thoroughly. When they emerged, both Tom and Elisa in dry clothes, Goliath was waiting for them.

"Daa!" Tom cried excitedly and Elisa was forced to set him down. Goliath scooped up the child and tucked him under one arm as he went to meet Elisa.

"What news of the missing children, Elisa?" he asked, knowing how the case concerned her.

"Its getting weird Im afraid. Im hoping to learn something tonight," she frowned, "from Dr. Goldblum."

"Goldblum?" Goliath looked startled. "What has he to do with this?"

Elisa led him into the family room where Talon and Maggie had settled. Tom was released to play with some of his toys and they watched him for a few moments. He was happily oblivious to his parents somber mood. Finally, Elisa sighed and turned to Goliath. She told him what she had learned and what she had suspected.

"I understand your concern," he admitted. Do you think it possible that these children have been the victims of some kind of experiment?"

"Im hoping Im wrong," she admitted, "but it would be a huge coincidence if both children were sick with the same illness and both kidnapped by the same person. Way too much of a coincidence."

"Since when do you believe in coincidence sis?" Talon asked.

"Since never."

The group trailed off into a brooding silence. Before it could be broken Delihla came into the room. "Excuse me. Elisa? Dr. Benjamin is here." Elisa stood as Carrie Benjamin entered the room.

"I know Im a bit early, but Dr. Goldblum called me. He wants to see us both" She trailed off when she caught sight of Tom. The young hybrid had looked up at the sound of a new voice. "Well hello." She took note of the wings and the slight protuberances on the childs forehead.

"Thats Tom," Elisa said with a smile. Carrie nodded, and gave a slightly strained smile of her own. Gargoyles were still very new to her. She had realized there must be baby gargoyles, but seeing one still surprised her. She wasnt sure why, but somehow seeing a child of the species made them more real to her, but not necessarily more normal. Believing that seeing the more domestic side of the gargoyles lives would make them seem more human wasnt working. They seemed as alien as ever, perhaps more so for the similarities.

Tom returned her appraising look and then turned back to his game with the typical self-involvement of toddlers. Elisa ruffled his hair and straightened up. "See ya kiddo."

"Bye amma," Tom looked up briefly before knocking over his carefully stacked blocks, giggling and then beginning again.

"Did" Carrie broke off briefly. "Did he call you mama?"

"Yeah," Elisa smiled. "Im still getting used to it." Carrie dropped the subject, not wanting to pry, and not sure she wanted to know anyway. Elisa led the way through the Labyrinth to Goldblums lab. Several of the Labyrinths residents greeted Elisa, and she called several by name. Since Tom had been spending some of his days and nights in the Labyrinth Elisa had spent a lot more time there.

Tom split his time between the castle and the Labyrinth and so had Elisa. She had a room at the castle where she spent many of her days, although she had kept her apartment as her permanent address. Moving in to the home of two convicted felons was out of the question, no matter what spin she put on it. She hadnt worked out how to do that yet. Until she did, she was going to be spending her off time wherever Tom was. It had all been a huge adjustment, suddenly having Tom in her life when versions of herself and Demona had appeared from an alternate reality. She still didnt quite know what to make of that. If the concept itself was bizarre, the story Demona had told them bordered on the absurd.

It would have been unbelievable if it werent for the other Elisa who had died of her injuries and the son she left behind. The war going on in her doubles reality had left many orphans Demona had told them. The Triad, the enemy her people were fighting, had overwhelmed several worlds, and it wasnt safe for anyone, least of all a two-year-old human-gargoyle hybrid. Elisa and Goliath had taken the boy in when the other Demona returned to her own reality.

Tom was and wasnt hers. The number of weird concepts shed been exposed to over the last few years was mind-boggling. Shed met monsters and gods and myths. So far she preferred the monsters. The plain fact of the matter was that she preferred the so-called monsters to many of the people she dealt with. _Downside to being a cop,_ she thought sadly. _You see the worst side of humanity._ The upside was that, occasionally, she got to see the best side too.

"Elisa, Carrie, come in, come in." Dr. Daniel Goldblum waved them into his lab and led the way to the table he used as a desk. Switching on the florescent light directly over the table he opened a folder and picked up a sheaf of papers. When he turned back to them his expression was wavering between grave concern and genuine outrage. "What Ive found here is unbelievable."

"Lay it out for us doctor, and remember that, unlike you two, I dont have an MD."

Goldblum nodded. Very well. In a nutshell. The girl whose blood sample you brought me isnt quite what she seems." He considered a moment. "Each of us draw traits from our parents, hair color, eye color, a predisposition toward certain diseases. Our genetic structure determines what we look like, how tall we will be, and how long we are likely to live. Virtually everything about us."

Elisa nodded. "Okay. With you so far."

"Not all of the traits we get from our parents can be expressed. If ones mother is blonde while the father has dark hair then the child will be one or the other, not both." Again Elisa nodded. "The traits that do not manifest themselves are referred to as recessive traits." He paused and began to pace. Elisa could see he was growing agitated at what he had uncovered and was having to force himself to work through it step by step for the sake of the other two. He drew a deep breath and continued. "Recessive traits normally stay recessive. Some traits might not show themselves until a child reaches puberty, but that doesnt make them recessive. It takes intervention of a sophisticated nature to actually activate recessive genes. Its supposed to be beyond our current technology." He grimaced. "That may pose a problem."

"Im afraid youve lost me doctor." Elisa prompted after a moment.

"The tests Ive run, the DNA comparisons and analysis lead me to an inescapable conclusion. The girl has gargoyle DNA in her."

"Are you talking about gene splicing?" Carrie asked, "because I-"

"No, no. Nothing like that," Goldblum shook his head. "I mean one of her parents was a gargoyle." The stunned silence lasted for almost a minute.

"Well," Elisa said finally, "Its not like thats unique."

Goldblum shook his head. "This isnt like Tom, who, incidentally I still cant explain. From all I can tell, human and gargoyle DNA isnt compatible without help. I believe the human DNA underwent some significant modifications before it was introduced to the gargoyle. For some reason, all of Susan Mullers gargoyle genes were recessive at birth. That means that, even with todays technology she would have been indistinguishable from a normal human. I believe the onset of puberty has set in motion a change, activating some of those recessive genes. I would need to run more sophisticated tests before I could begin to guess at the mechanism at work there."

"Are you saying," Carrie asked incredulously, "that that girl, maybe her brother, are going to turn into gargoyles?"

"No." Goldblum shook his head. "I dont think that thats possible. Some traits will begin to emerge, but I dont believe that a complete transformation is possible. They arent going to grow wings for instance, but some of the characteristics will emerge, its impossible to say which ones. The gargoyle genome hasnt been mapped. I suspect the changes will be minor and mostly cosmetic, but that isnt the biggest problem. Even the strain of that change may be too much. The symptoms youve described are going to get worse. Their lives could be at risk. There is a chance that the change they are being forced through will kill them."

"We need to find them fast then." Elisa frowned. "Can the change be stopped?"

"I dont know. Its impossible to say without running more tests."

"To do that we have to find them first," Elisa frowned. "Someone knows about them, probably the same someone who was responsible for their genetic engineering to begin with."

"That makes sense," Goldblum agreed, "and it rather limits the list of suspects. Someone knows about her and the other boy, apparently her brother. The question is "

"Not Muller," Elisa interrupted.

"What?" Carrie asked.

"Muller is the name of her adoptive parents. Her original name was Susan O. Trevain. It was stitched on the baby blanket she was wrapped in. Strange" she trailed off. Goldblum and Carrie traded curious glances. "Nothing. The names mean nothing."

"Okay," Carrie admitted. "Now youve lost me." She watched Elisa take a blank sheet of paper from the printer and begin to scribble on it. She moved to look over the detectives shoulder in order to see what she was writing.

Sean U. Travis

SUSAN O. TREVAIN

She began crossing out letters and writing them, one by one, below the names. First the A and the N from Susans name. The T from Trevain was next; followed by the middle initial that had given her the idea. When she was done with Susan, she moved on to Seans name. That proved more problematic, but as with Susan, the last part of the puzzle fell into place perfectly.

"Its kind of obvious in retrospect," she said, her tone almost conversational. "Who else would it be?" She turned and held up the paper. "Those names dont mean anything except as pieces of a puzzle. Both names, give or take a letter, are anagrams." She tapped the name shed written and circled at the bottom of the page.

ANTON SEVARIUS

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14 Mar. 2001

Sean stared at the walls of his room, not really seeing them. He had time yet, or so the doctor had told him. Time to make a decision that was really no decision at all. The last two days had held so many shocks that he was numb. He couldnt feel anything. He didnt know what to believe anymore. The conversation with Dr. Sevarius kept replaying in his mind, but it still refused to become real for him.

His pain was still there. Some of the special medications the doctor had given him had eased it more effectively than anything else hed tried, but it was still there. For what seemed the hundredth time he catalogued the aches.

The dull ache at the front of his skull was a set of horns trying to grow. Sevarius hadnt used the word horns, but that was what they looked like to Sean in the x-ray. The infernal itching on his back, the twin spots of irritation were the beginnings of wings. Insane. The burning in his joints meant that his bones were rearranging themselves. Bone spurs were beginning to grow. His muscles were rearranging themselves as well, finding new anchors on his bones, and becoming denser. Eventually, the doctor told him, the changes would make him stronger, but for now the cramps were driving him up a wall.

The changes wouldnt stop. The changes would keep coming, but the end result wouldnt be life as a monster. The doctor had told him that there was an excellent chance he wouldnt survive the process. The stress would slowly tear his body apart. There was only one option. The doctor could give him drugs that would ease the transition. Unfortunately they did so by accelerating the process. Some choice. Die or live as a monster.

At least not all of the surprises had been unpleasant. He had a sister. _A sister._ It was by far the most pleasant surprise either of them had had in a while. So why were they huddled in separate rooms, brooding alone?

Coming to a decision, Sean stood up and left the room. Susans was two doors down. It was an office actually, but it was set up as a small bedroom. He knocked. "Susan? Its me, Sean."

"Open the door," she called. He did, and stepped inside, letting the door sing shut behind him. "Noo!" She stomped her foot and glared at him. "Great. Now were both locked in."

He glanced at the door, confused. He hadnt been locked in, why should she be? That didnt make sense. He shoved the matter aside for the moment. "We need to talk."

"I need to get out. I wanna go home!"

"What about the change? What about what Dr. Sevarius said?"

She laughed humorlessly. "You believe that nonsense?! You think were turning into monsters?"

"Youve been having pain in your joints and cramps." He sat down on the bed and watched her pace. "Recently youve had headaches. There are these spots on your back that itch constantly."

"It proves that the same thing is happening to both of us. Is that what youre saying?" He nodded. "It doesnt prove that were turning into monsters. It doesnt prove that we should trust the person who kidnapped us. How do you know he didnt poison us or something and thats why were sick."

Sean didnt have an answer for that, and he wasnt any happier about it than she was, but he couldnt get past what the doctor had shown them. "What about the tapes he showed us? Special effects?" His tone was becoming sarcastic.

"I dont know what I saw, but it has nothing to do with me."

Sean didnt have an answer for that. He couldnt think of a way to sway her if she didnt want to accept it. He changed the subject. "What about our parents?"

"My parents are Chris and Irene Muller," she said stubbornly.

"Only because you were adopted by them. What about the people those monsters stole us from? Those gargoyle things stole us and did things to us. Thats why were in this mess. Dont you want to know about our parents?"

"I dont believe it," she insisted. "It isnt true." It couldnt be. She couldnt accept that there were creatures evil enough to steal babies from their parents and experiment on them. The world wasnt like that she told herself desperately. And the idea that monsters would do this to try to make monsters out of the babies theyd stolen was absurd. _It was impossible. The world isnt like that!_

Sevarius had laid it out so clearly though. Gargoyles were a dying race. Their constant fighting had depleted numbers, and their naturally low birth rate had brought them to the edge of extinction. It was a rather sad story actually, he had told them. They had such potential, but they couldnt overcome their aggressive tendencies. They fought with each other and with humans, virtually forcing humans to kill them off in self-defense.

Over the last century-and-a-half things had changed. The gargoyles began to realize that time was running out for them. In desperation they turned to modern technology, genetic engineering. They had found a way, Sevarius claimed, to introduce gargoyle DNA into infant humans. When the children reached puberty they began to change. Unfortunately the process was far from perfect and many died.

The twins were among the first to live to puberty. They were still in danger though. Gargoyles would be looking for them, especially now that the change was beginning. It had been an old friend of Sevarius who had smuggled the twins out from under the gargoyles noses when they were still young and placed them with human families. The gargoyles had been very unhappy with the man. Sevarius told the twins that helping them was the only way he had to honor the memory of his old friend, at least for the time being.

The idea that there were monsters looking for them was unacceptable, unbelievable. So Susan didnt accept it. All she wanted was to go home. Dr. Benjamin would find out what was wrong with her and make her better, and then she could get on with her life. Her life as a normal kid.

************************************************************************

Elisa doodled, making random marks on the paper between the series of names she had written there. Letting her thoughts drift randomly over the facts shed collected often helped her work things out. She had already categorized all of the pieces of the puzzle, mentally labeling them as either fact or theory and had gone as far as logical deduction would take her for the moment. There was something missing. Something not directly related to the case. Then it struck her. _Why am I assigned to this case?_ How had she been assigned to a kidnapping in the first place? It wasnt her usual area.

Rising from her desk she made her way to Captain Chavez office. Knocking on the jamb, she caught the older womans attention. "Captain? Got a minute?" Chavez waved her in and looked at her expectantly. "Its about the kidnappings Ive been working"

************************************************************************

"Is he in?"

Ellie didnt bother to ask who he was; she merely gestured towards the small room Hunter used as an office. Elisa knocked on the door and entered without waiting. Hunter looked up from his computer and frowned slightly. "Something I can do for you detective?"

"Stop messing with my caseload. If you want something ask, dont scheme."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Dont beg, just tell me what you thought you were doing, getting that kidnapping assigned to me." Hunter frowned for a moment, then sighed and gestured for her to sit. After a moment she did so and waited impatiently for an answer.

"What kidnapping?"

"Oh, dont-"

"Humor me," he cut her off impatiently.

"All right," she gritted. "Sean Travis age 12. He was kidnapped. I learned hed been sick. Two days later a girl, Susan Trevain, also 12, was kidnapped by the same man in the same car."

"The problem is?"

"I dont handle kidnappings, never have. I pressed Chavez for answers and was told that her superiors had suspected a connection between the kidnapping and another case of mine, but they didnt have any details. No one she talked to knew what case it might be related to. The idea originated somewhere and you were the logical choice, especially given what Ive learned tonight."

"What have you learned?"

"Answer my question first. Why?"

Hunter was silent a moment, his face a mask as he made up his mind how to best answer her question. Finally, he sighed. "Listen closely Elisa. Manipulation is a tool to be used sparingly, judiciously. Debts owed are a precious commodity, and the strings I have available for the pulling are thin and fragile. If I want you to investigate a particular crime I will ask you directly. There is no need for misdirection between us."

Elisa stared incredulously. "So its a coincidence that Im assigned to a kidnapping of two children who turn out to be the product of some human/gargoyle crossbreeding project?"

"Cross-breeds?" Hunter looked genuinely startled and Elisa wondered if she hadnt misjudged the situation. "Are you sure?"

"Susan had been to a doctor for the problems shed been having. Dr. Goldblum ran some tests on the blood sample she gave. He found evidence that the girl at least is undergoing some sort of metamorphosis." She gave him an uncertain look. "You knew nothing of this?"

"Why would I need to trick you into investigating something like this?" he answered, honestly baffled by her attitude.

"If not you, then who?" Hunter frowned at this. It was an excellent question. He knew Mazas deductions were well reasoned if off target. Someone had set her on the trail deliberately. The questions that needed answering were who and why? Illuminati? It made no sense. Bluestone was a member and an investigation could have been easily arranged through him. That didnt rule out the Illuminati. It was true that the Society was often too fond of its secrets. Hunter wasnt about to dismiss that possibility, but it felt wrong. So who had put her on the trail? It was a question he would need to answer quickly.

"I dont know, but I intend to find out." He sat back in his chair causing it to creak under his considerable mass. "Tell me everything."

Though still suspicious, she complied, laying out the facts as she knew them. Hunter listened without interruption, holding questions until she finished. Sevarius involvement didnt surprise him given the circumstances, but it did make things more complicated. Sevarius was a complex man, and he was sometimes difficult to predict. Her explanation also provided another question. Where had the gargoyle DNA come from? Gargoyle clans were very reclusive. They might never know where the DNA had come from if they didnt find Sevarius. Hunter considered, but disregarded the notion that Sevarius himself had somehow gotten Maza involved. That made no sense.

"I can start a search for the Frankenstein knock-off right now. Can you find the car?"

"Already working on it." She considered briefly. "If this happened like Goldblum thinks it did then where did the gargoyle DNA come from? The clan was still in stone hibernation. There are other gargoyle clans, true, but not in this country. If it was from the clan in England then why bring them here?"

"Good question," Hunter acknowledged, "but lets not speculate just yet. Sevarius will be able to answer those questions for us."

"Im looking forward to that." Elisa rose and prepared to leave. "Ill find the car and the person who did the actual kidnapping. Hell lead us to Sevarius if you cant get a lead on him."

************************************************************************

"Too many balls in the air," Sevarius murmured, looking at the list of projects on his screen. "Although," he allowed himself a humorless smile, "knives might make for a better analogy." No, he reflected, not funny at all. If any one of the projects were to fail or be discovered by the wrong person he would be in very deep trouble. Double-crossing Lord Madoc was one of the most dangerous things he had ever attempted. Sevarius prided himself on his reasoning ability, and he planned for the long term when possible. Working for Madoc would bring him great wealth, it was true, but his common sense told him that that wealth would become meaningless if the Unseelie Lords plans actually came to fruition.

Sevarius had, therefore, been working on quiet ways to frustrate them. He was certain that no one knew he had sabotaged the cloning project, or had left out subtle yet key information in his notes concerning the creation and alteration of the mutagen. The cloning project concerned him. He had only vague memories of that, and it rankled him. Something about it was missing, almost like there was a hole in him memory. Still, he was alive and Madoc was stumped, so he counted it a success. His efforts would slow the Unseelie lord, but not stop him. He knew that the problems with the mutagen had already been solved. After a fashion, the entire world knew it. The FBIs highly successful raid on Malons New Jersey facility had given the Unseelie court national exposure. Sevarius had quietly chuckled over that and would have liked to shake the hand of the one who had arranged it.

It was an urge that passed quickly. If he were right about the person responsible for the raid, he stood a better than even chance of drawing back a bloody stump. Another bit of gallows humor, he reflected. _Anton, old boy, you really do need to find a less stressful line of work._

Speaking of stress He turned on the monitor for Susans room. The siblings were talking quietly together. That could be good or bad. Adjusting the volume, he listened in and was pleased by what he heard. The boy seemed to have swallowed the story hook, line, and sinker. The girl didnt want to believe, but she was unable to refute her brothers arguments. She would come around eventually. Unfortunately, he couldnt wait for eventually. Facing several different deadlines, the least important of which was the police investigation, he needed results quickly.

He put a dose of the chemical cocktail necessary to accelerate the change in the girls food. She didnt get enough to bring on the change full blown, but it would move the process along more quickly. With the correct lies it would convince her to accept his treatment. It had begun as soon as shed arrived, and she should be beginning to feel the affects soon.

***********************************************************************

"Its not true! Just go away!" she insisted stubbornly. Sean sighed and tried to think of another approach. At this point all he wanted to do was talk to her, but even that was nearly impossible. She wanted nothing to do with him and it was making him angry. All the TV shows hed seen about people who actually had families proved that brothers and sisters had arguments all the time, but things always worked out. _Yeah, within half an hour_, he thought morosely, chiding himself for thinking that it should be as easy as it was on some stupid sitcom. There was nothing even remotely funny about their current mess. A horror movie would be closer, and those didnt always work out.

"Tell me about your parents?" His tone made it a question, and she glanced at him in surprise.

"Why?"

Sean shrugged. "Ive never had a family before. Whats it like?" This made Susan hesitate. She didnt really want to take it out on him; he was in the same boat she was in. _Hes just falling for this lie cause he doesnt have anyone to go home to_, she told herself. "Come on," his tone was almost pleading, "just talk to me."

Susan relented, and they began to talk. She told him about her parents and about living in Georgia. She told him about her father teaching her how to ride a bike and her mother making cookies. "Sounds sappy, I know, but its good, and I want to get back to them." Sean nodded and encouraged her to go on. He listened raptly as she told him about the mundane details of having a normal family. "What about you?" she asked finally. "Tell me about the foster home."

Sean sighed. "Which one?" He started at the beginning, as she had, and talked about the orphanage, followed by one foster home after another. Some had been tolerable, and things simply hadnt worked out. Some the state had stepped in and shut down. Before moving in with the Hopkins, he had been in a group home run by a man who spent more of the states money on booze than he did on food. The man was currently in jail for hitting one of the children in his care with a scotch bottle. He had been too drunk to provide a coherent lie when the ambulance and squad car arrived. Fortunately for him and his victim the bottle was already empty, and hadnt done as much damage as it might have.

Susan shuddered at the story. It was just luck, she knew, that it hadnt worked out the other way around. He could have been the one with the good parents and nice home. It didnt seem fair. Life wasnt fair, that was not news, but it didnt make it any easier to accept the situation. She rose and started to pace again. "Maybe mom and dad would let you stay with us?" she suggested hopefully, I mean if you really are my brother" She looked at him carefully, taking in the hair and eyes that were the same shade as hers and the sickly pallor that was almost identical to hers. In the right light his skin almost looked blue. "I guess we kinda look alike, but it doesnt mean were related, I mean do you really trust this doctor?"

She was getting agitated again. Her pacing picked up speed and she had her eyes fixed on the floor. "Some of it makes sense," Sean ventured. "What if-"

"Makes sense?! How does any of this make sense?!" Sean was staring at her, trying to scoot away across the bed. "What?" She demanded. "What are you staring at?"

"Y-your eyes Theyre Look at the mirror."

Susan turned toward the mirror and stared at her reflection. At first she couldnt understand what she was seeing. She looked around the room, searching for the source of the phenomena, light from the lamp or a window, but there were no windows and the florescent lights in the ceiling didnt produce red light. Her eyes were glowing. "No." They had both watched the video Sevarius had shown them. A video that showed savage creatures with wings and sharp talons, and eyes that glowed when they were angry.

As she watched, the glow faded. Her vision began to blur with tears. "NO! This is something he did to us!" Her eyes flared again, brighter than before, and she jumped back in alarm. "Wha What was that?"

"Gargoyle eyes glow like that," Sean said staring at her. This was the first time hed seen visible evidence of what Doctor Sevarius had told them. Hed described their symptoms, hed told them about their pasts in detail, hed told them horror stories, and shown them monster movies with real monsters. Susan had made some valid points in arguing with him. He had begun to waver, wanting to believe that it was something that Sevarius was doing to them, that there was a way out of this. Seeing Susans eyes glow just as the monsters had was evidence he couldnt ignore, couldnt dispute. Suddenly what they wanted to believe wasnt important.

Susan took a step or two away from the mirror and stumbled, falling to one knee. Sean jumped up and went to her. "Whats wrong?" Susan was gasping and clutching her sides with hands that twitched spasmodically, out of her control. Sean helped her to the bed where she curled up in a ball and started to cry. Seeing her in such pain froze him for a moment. He didnt know how to help her, but there was someone nearby who did. "Doctor!" Pulling open the door, Sean shouted for help, and Sevarius arrived a moment later.

"Whats happening?" he asked as Sean pulled him into the room. "Oh dear." He hastily pushed her back on the bed and helped her straighten herself. After listening to her heart and breathing with the stethoscope he checked her eyes which had begun to glow fitfully when a particularly hard spasm overtook her. "I was afraid something like this might happen," he glanced at Sean. "The change is accelerating. Puberty is a difficult time for anyone, so many hormonal changes." He shook his head. "Its affecting the rate of genetic change, making it erratic. Right now shes having a a growth spurt." Things were going quite well, Sevarius thought smugly as he did his very best to seem concerned and frantic. Actually, concerned wasnt that much of a stretch. The growth spurt he had induced was risky. If the stress on her system became too severe it could conceivably kill her. That would be extremely inconvenient, but he still needed the children to ask for his help. He couldnt force it on them and expect them to be appropriately grateful.

"Help her! Make it stop!"

"I cant make it stop Sean," Sevarius answered in his best sympathetic voice. "I can only smooth the transition, I told you that." He looked at Susan writhing on the bed. "Im working on a way to reverse the process, but its nowhere near complete. It may be years before there is a way to undo whats been done to you."

"I-is she going to die?" Sean asked in a small voice.

Sevarius made a show of thinking about this. "I dont think so," he said finally. "She is young and strong. She should pull through, but this will happen again, and it will keep happening to you both until the change is complete."

Susan began squirm on the bed and it was a second before either realized what she was doing. With a supreme effort, Susan rolled onto her side and reached behind her, trying desperately to scratch her back. "ITCHES!!" she cried. "Make it stop!" She started to claw at her shoulders, as close as she could come to the twin mounds that were growing on her back. She began to weep in frustration at not being able to reach them. Her hands, curved almost into claws thanks to the arthritis-like symptoms that plagued her, tore at the skin of her shoulders with nails that had visibly thickened and sharpened. Sean gasped and grabbed her wrists as Susan succeeded in drawing blood.

"Help her!"

"Susan?" Despite her discomfort she had been doing her best to follow the doctors explanation. She whimpered and nodded, willing do anything to stop the pain. "All right. Ill be back in a moment." He straightened and left the room, adopting a jaunty air as soon as he was sure he was out of their line of sight. He had won.

************************************************************************

Elisa circled the car, taking in the details. Red Ford. Dented fender. The plates matched perfectly. "Where did this turn up again?"

The patrolman, Officer Lewis, she noted, consulted his notebook. "It was stolen outside a train station in Trenton New Jersey. Security cameras caught the whole thing. Driver was arrested here in Manhattan."

"So the car was used in two kidnappings here. The kidnapper goes all the way to Trenton to dispose of it, and someone else steals it and brings it back." She shook her head. "Unbelievable."

Lewis decided not to comment. Instead he asked, "has the car been reported stolen by anyone?"

Elisa nodded. "Yes. Mostly a formality I think. Hes never bothered to check on it. Probably collected the insurance already." She considered a moment. "Make sure no one gets close to this car. Im having a full forensics team go over it, fingerprints, hair and fibers; the works." Lewis nodded as Elisa turned away and headed for her car. With any luck they would have the answers they needed in a few hours. She just hoped that those answers didnt come too late.

***********************************************************************

15 Mar. 2001

Susan clenched her teeth and tried to hold back the scream. The pain was intense, but it was bearable. And it was finally fading. Ever so slowly, in barely noticeable increments, the pain was diminishing. She wondered what kind of scale pain was measured on and, bizarre though the thought was she pursued it, welcoming any distraction.

She opened her eyes and focused on her hand, a hand that only throbbed dully now that that part of the change was complete. She still had five fingers. Beyond that, there was nothing familiar about the thing at the end of her arm. The skin was blue and the fingers came to sharp points. Straightening as best she could she examined the rest of her body. She was visibly thinner, her ribs showing through her skin. It was as if her mass was being redistributed, and she didnt have to look far to find where it had gone. For one thing she had a tail.

"Here you are Susan." She looked up to see Sevarius coming into her room with a tray and hastily covered herself. "No need to be shy my dear, I am a doctor. I know that hospital gown is rather drafty, but its the only thing that will fit right now." He glanced away, however, to spare her some measure of privacy. "I brought you some food. Youll be needing it."

Susan realized that he was right. She was ravenous. Risking modesty in favor of whatever was on the plate, she began to bolt it down without even identifying it. The taste barely registered. "Youll feel better soon," he promised. "I know it hurts now, but think of it like a trip to the dentist. Would you rather get your teeth cleaned now or have a root canal later?" She paused long enough to give him a look he couldnt quite read. "Its not such a bad analogy is it?"

Susan shrugged and concentrated on her food. It did help to eat. It gave her something else to focus on besides the pain, and it eased the rumbling of her stomach. She paused long enough to ask a question. "What about Sean?"

"Your brother is fine. Hes taken the treatment as well. I need to go and bring him some food now. Just try to hold on. It wont last much longer." He left the tray with its quickly vanishing mound of protein and carbohydrates and returned to the makeshift kitchen where Josh was preparing another tray. Normally he would not have lowered himself to such menial tasks as delivering food, but he wasnt about to trust anyone else at this juncture. The children needed to be handled delicately. Any disruption to the carefully woven fairy-tale hed told them could be disastrous. There were holes in his explanations that he had yet to plug. He would be ready soon though, and with the two young ones under his control, hed have a potential weapon that Madoc would never suspect.

It hadnt been his goal when he first took the children from the lab in Atlanta under the pretext of disposing of them. He simply had not wanted to waste such promising specimens. He shook his head in exasperation. Businessmen could be so trying. They were like two-year-olds, wanting everything now, now, now. All that had been required was a little patience and planning. It wasnt as if two baby gargoyles would have been of much use to them anyway.

It had been risky, but not really all that difficult to sneak the babies away and have them placed with human families. Even keeping track of them over the years hadnt been all that hard. Only now were things getting dangerous. He never could have anticipated the Unseelie, but their prophesy about a joining of human and gargoyle being their final undoing was simply too perfect. He had learned that Madoc had been systematically trying to wipe out the gargoyles for centuries and causing turmoil and dissent between the two races when extermination wasnt practical. There was more than one form of joining however, and Sevarius doubted that the Unseelie lord had even anticipated the possibility of a hybrid.

Although young, the children were to be his ace in the hole if the worst should come to pass. He wasnt sure how they would be useful just yet, but he was confident he would come up with something. He always did.

************************************************************************

"He was careful in cleaning up the car, it took forensics over two hours to find usable prints and hair."

"Quite a career hes had," Chavez commented, looking over the file on Josh Sutter.

"Yeah," Elisa agreed, "but never kidnapping before this. Hes working for someone."

"That doesnt really fit his pattern either," her captain noted. "He tends to work alone."

"Not always. If he stumbled into a well paying job hed work with others, like he did in 93 on the robbery that got him sent up." Chavez nodded thoughtfully. "I think we have a lead on his current whereabouts."

"Lets hear it."

"Hunter-"

Chavez quickly raised a hand. "On second thought, I dont want to know. Just find the kids." Elisa nodded and quickly left. She knew that Hunter wasnt the captains favorite person. Chavez had decided that, as a police officer, it was better that the less she knew about the mutates activities the better. She was content to know that he was working for the same goal she was. They both wanted to be rid of the Unseelie. What the police could do officially was limited, both by legal issues and the fact that most people still refused to acknowledge their existence.

Hunter had assured her that steps were being taken, but officially they didnt exist. Word was getting around unofficially though, mostly thanks to Hunter and a few of his trusted associates. The fact that Hunter wouldnt identify those associates irritated her. It irritated her until she realized that she really was better off not knowing.

************************************************************************

Josh reclined on his pullout sofa. It was old and sagging, and he hoped for better. He had realized some time ago that the old saying was correct. Crime didnt pay. At least not the crimes he was committing. He had thought that the job for Sevarius would pay well, and it did. Unfortunately, being circumspect in his use of money had always been a problem. He had spent five years in prison because hed been unable to wait. Hed spent the money from the robbery extravagantly, drawing attention to himself and his unexplainable wealth.

They couldnt tie him directly to the robbery, not beyond a reasonable doubt, which was why hed only gotten five years on a plea bargain. The prosecutor had grudgingly accepted the deal. No one, least of all Josh, had been happy with the arrangement. The prosecutor had wanted 12 years minimum.

When he got out Josh had resolved to be smarter. He would be more careful with the money he made. And he had been. The $25,000 he had made in his brief time working for Sevarius was stashed in two different safety-deposit boxes.

He had a checking account to into which he made reasonable weekly deposits. He never had more than a few hundred dollars in there. If anyone checked his finances they would find someone with a low paying part time job, barely getting by. Completely innocent as long as no one found out what kind of errands he ran for the doc. Yeah, this time hed be smart.

Josh looked up in annoyance when his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. He pushed himself to his feet. "All right, all right. Ill be there in a second." He made his way to the door, grumbling all the way. He turned the knob and pulled it open to be confronted by two uniformed officers and a detective holding a badge.

"Josh Sutter?"

"Er, yeah. What can I do for you?" It took every ounce of will he had to look surprised and not to slam the door and bolt for the window.

"Were here to take you in for questioning in the kidnappings of Sean Travis and Susan Trevain." Josh did his best to look confused while he was cuffed. They couldnt have any solid evidence against him. He had covered all of his bases. The car was gone. Even if they had found it they would find nothing there to tie it to him. If that was so, a nagging little voice in his head reminded him. Why were they taking him in for questioning? Not able to think of a good answer to that question, he began to worry. _Maybe_, he reflected, _I should have run_.

***********************************************************************

Sean stretched his new wings. They were beginning to respond to him only slowly. Connections in his brain were still forming. The nerves that carried commands to his new appendages fired erratically, causing them to twitch. Susan was a little better off, having begun her treatment an hour or so before him. She was gaining control more quickly. It was probably why anything breakable had been removed from the room, Sean realized. Some of the spasms had been pretty violent. It had only been in the last half-hour that Sevarius had allowed them to be in the same room. Sean looked about at the cot, table and chair that were the rooms only furnishings. There was nothing else, no pictures, no books, no small, loose items of any sort. He noticed especially the absence of anything breakable. No glass of any sort. Was the doctor worried such items would be used as projectiles? Or was he simply concerned that they would hurt themselves?

Dr. Sevarius had assured them that they would feel better soon if the change was accelerated, and he hadnt lied. It had taken several hours, but the pain was all but gone. Mostly they felt awkward in the new forms that had been forced upon them. Forced upon them by the gargoyles, Sean reminded himself bitterly. He promised himself that he would make them pay. Susan was inconsolable. Exhausted, both from the change and from crying for what she had lost, she couldnt see any way to go on. She couldnt see facing her parents as she was, but she couldnt bear to stay away.

"I want to go home," she sniffed.

"I know," he gasped, straightening up as best he could so he could move closer to her. "Its not gonna be easy. Howll they take-"

Susan interrupted, shaking her head violently. "I cant think about that!" Her wings flared defensively and Sean was forced to back away.

"I never had a sister before," he tried, "or a brother either. So I dont know all the rules. Ive heard they can be really annoying." She glanced up sharply at him. "Real brats according to my friend Greg. Hes got two little sisters, and you should hear them complain about him!" The angry expression turned quizzical as she tried to figure out where he was going with his current train of thought. "Ive also heard they can be good to talk to about stuff you cant talk to other people about." He had her full attention now. "Thing is they dont let other people complain about him, and he gets mad if anyone says anything bad about them. They stick together when someone sides family is botherin em." He paused, not sure himself where he was going. Then he remembered the point. "I think thats what brothers and sisters are for. Were supposed to watch out for each other when no one else can or will." Suddenly embarrassed, he looked down at his hands. But his hands had become strange alien things, and he quickly looked elsewhere, trying to find something normal to look at. There wasnt much to choose from.

Nothing about his life was normal anymore. He wanted to fall apart the way Susan was, but he had never had the option of crying for mommy. He had never had anyone but himself to rely on, not consistently at any rate.

Susan was staring at him but looked away when he met her eyes, not at all sure what to say. "Who else can we rely on but each other?" he asked. "I dont trust the doctor." Susan welcomed the chance to concentrate on something. She thought about the doctor and all of the impressions she had of him. He had had them kidnapped, held them prisoner, and turned them into monsters. Maybe he had done what was best for them as he claimed, but she just couldnt make herself believe it.

"I dont either, but we dont have a lot of choices. I cant go home like this. I cant go to school like this."

"Hey! There is an upside." Susan shot him an annoyed look, but then smiled slightly. "We need to get out of here."

"And go where? Do what? I cant go home." Sean looked away, not able to answer either question.

***********************************************************************

"You dont have a lot of options here Josh. Talk to us and maybe we can make a deal."

"Times running out. If anything happens to those kids youll suffer for it."

Josh looked back and forth between Maza and Bluestone. They were on either side of him, battering him with questions and threats. "I want a lawyer," he said finally, knowing it would shut them up. Legally they couldnt continue to badger him after he asked for a lawyer and it would buy him a little time.

Just as he knew they would, the two detectives stood and left the interrogation room. Maza turned back at the last second. "Youre not buying time Josh. Youre wasting it."

She was right and he knew it. He should just turn Sevarius over to them, maybe make a deal to save his own skin. The only thing that made him hesitate was Sevarius. Sevarius frightened him. _Well_, he thought, _what frightens you more? The doc or life in prison?_ He decided he would make the deal, but hed need a lawyer to make sure it stuck.

He didnt have to wait long. Not quite an hour later a dour looking middle-aged public defender entered the room with Maza and Bluestone. He set his briefcase on the table and introduced himself as Lee Andrews. The two detectives didnt waste time. They laid out the situation for him. The car with his prints, the witnesses, his record, and his lack of an alibi all made for a fairly grim picture. The longer he delayed the less useful his information became.

Andrews considered briefly then leaned over to Josh. "I advise you to deal. The weight of evidence is against you."

Josh nodded. "Do your best."

Two minutes later Josh Sutter began to talk. "This guy I work for. Hes scary. I mean really scary."

"Scary like life in prison?" Maza asked deadpan.

"This guy, Sevarius, he hired me to fetch the kids. Said they had been adopted away. Used to be his sorta. At least he said he made em." He shook his head. "I didnt see the resemblance myself." The two detectives traded grave looks. "I was never real clear on what he wanted with them though. He sure doesnt seem like the sentimental type."

"Never mind that," Maza snapped. "Where are the kids?" Josh gave them the address of the docs office, and they bolted for the door. He watched them go, already trying to plan out his next move. If the doc were capable of doing what he had hinted at, this deal would be of absolutely no use to him. He doubted they would honor the deal if the kids werent human anymore.

The SWAT team was ready to move. They hadnt been told precisely what to expect, because neither of the detectives knew what to expect. There was speculation, privately about monsters like the redcaps that had been causing such havoc. They knew they were looking for kidnapped children, but what might be between them and the children was what worried them. The word Unseelie was whispered with some trepidation.

Elisa and Matt heard none of this. They were busy coordinating the final preparations. They knew the way Sevarius thought and were looking over every potential exit to the building, not wanting to leave him any exits no matter how unlikely they might seem at the time. Elisa placed a call to her brother and arranged to have the subterranean exits covered. He would ensure that Sevarius did not slip out through the tunnels. Elisa hoped that they wouldnt run into any halflings, but knew that it was at least a possibility.

They couldnt prepare the SWAT team for that, but they could take precautions themselves. Each carried a small iron bell that they hoped would not be needed. It pricked Elisas conscience, but she didnt see how she could tell them to be prepared for elves even if the department higher-ups were starting to acknowledge the problem. Although it meant walking a fine line between keeping the public calm and keeping them safe, officially, such creatures didnt exist. It put everyone who knew the truth in an awkward position and made those who only suspected fearful. A bad combination, Elisa reflected as she glanced at the SWAT team. They seemed no more nervous than was normal before an operation, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that the operation was going to end badly.

Reservations or no, however, they dared not delay. The children had already been Sevarius captives for several days and Elisa could only imagine what they were going through.

************************************************************************

Mar. 15 2001, 4:30 PM

The pain was gone. Sean stretched; pressing muscles old, new, and altered, into service. He couldnt stop marveling over the way it felt. It was still weird, but for the first time in months he felt good. There was no pain, no discomfort of any sort. His head didnt ache. His joints didnt burn. Susan watched him with a slight smile.

"Feels good doesnt it? No pain. Id almost forgotten what it was like not hurting in some way." Sean nodded. He could definitely relate. He looked at his sister, really looked at her new form. Like his, her hair was flame red. Her skin was blue except for her wings, which were black. Checking his own appearance in a mirror he saw that in that respect they were identical. He felt a little weird about the backless shirt and oddly cut shorts that Sevarius had provided, but he had to admit they were practical, if somewhat drab.

"At least he didnt give us things like the gargoyles in the video tapes were wearing," Susan said. "I dont think I could wear a loincloth." He looked her up and down and then glanced away hastily, worried about how she would interpret that.

"Um, no. I dont think so." Both were silent for a moment before he continued. "So What now?"

Susan shook her head. "I dont know. I guess we see what happens with doctor Sevarius. I mean we dont have a lot of options." She began to pace and Sean jumped back when she lashed her tail angrily. "Theres something wrong about what hes told us. I know it. Its not the whole truth. Why have we never heard of gargoyles before? I mean no matter how rare they are now why isnt there some record of them?"

Sean shrugged. "I guess thats a good question, but Im not sure what it means. What are you saying?"

Susan spread her hands helplessly. Silence descended over the room again. The doctor was due back in a few minutes with something he said would answer all of their questions. Neither one knew what that might be, nor if they would believe what he showed them. They werent sure of anything except that the doctor didnt seem trustworthy. He had a tendency to overdo everything, like a bad actor in a melodrama. He didnt always come across that way, but it happened often enough to make them doubt him.

Sevarius mentally rehearsed the story once more. He had his props. He had his lines and all the possible answers to their arguments ready. Doubts were to be expected, and had to be carefully assuaged if his plans for the twins were to proceed.

His musings were interrupted by the door chime from the outer office. His security at the office was minimal, as he relied mostly on secrecy. There were no alarms to warn him if someone entered the building. There were no security cameras for him to tie into. Any such efforts on his part might have aroused the curiosity of the other tenants or the management of the low rent, nondescript office building. He did what he could, however. The chime didnt sound in the outer office. It was intended to give him a little warning when someone did come in. There was also a camera hed installed himself and a small monitor in the office where he was making his final preparations before speaking to the twins again. Glancing at the monitor, expecting to see nothing more than Josh returning from his latest errand, he was alarmed to instead see police officers pouring through his door.

"Well thats a bit of overkill," he murmured, noting the riot gear on the absurdly large force. Quickly recalling the layout of the office, he cursed silently as he realized that there was no time to reach the twins and escape with them. It would be hard enough to get away himself. He would simply have to retrieve the twins later.

Moving quickly through the door farthest from the advancing officers, he made his way to a storeroom that contained a large wall vent. Not the most dignified escape hed ever made, but it would have to do. He pulled the janitorial equipment back into place and pulled the vent cover into position before wriggling down a short expanse of duct and into another office.

The office in question, which belonged to a tax attorney on vacation, gave him access to the next office by a door he had long ago gotten a key for. This led him to the buildings maintenance room from which he was able to access the parking garage below. This, he knew, would be the most dangerous part of the escape. He would be exposed when he moved from the garage to the sewers, but there was no help for it.

************************************************************************

The office the twins waited in was designed with privacy in mind. Meetings held there since the building had been constructed were often confidential. Whether a lawyer was preparing a client for the witness stand or a contract was being negotiated the solid walls and thick oak door made very effective soundproofing. Distracting noises were completely shut out. It was unlikely that the builders had ever anticipated the occupants need to overhear a police SWAT team barging into the outer office.

Tensions inside and outside the office were running high. Susan was pacing nervously, waiting for Sevarius to tell them something that would settle their minds or at least convince them that their suspicions about him were groundless. They were certain that he wasnt telling the whole truth. What precisely the lies were, however, they couldnt begin to guess.

Beyond the door, Officer Sam Mortimore had concerns of his own. He was new to the team, but had still seen several hairy situations. Crack houses were one thing; he knew what to expect. Even the gargoyles were becoming a known quantity. It was becoming unofficial standard procedure not to notice them unless they were directly involved in a crime. The gargoyles were on their side. Sam had his reservations about that, but he accepted it, having heard stories of cops rescued by gargoyles. Whispers he had heard of the Unseelie and the things they had done, however, unnerved him. The two detectives in charge seemed nervous as well and didnt seem to realize how this affected the other officers.

Rumors had been flying for some time, about the pointy-eared men that could fly and project energy from their hands. Sam thought it sounded a bit far-fetched, but he had seen too many strange things too discount the rumors fully. A month or so before, he had seen a man run up the side of a building. A very tall building. At night the things people were calling redcaps came out. He had seen some of them, and while they looked fairly harmless, being at most three feet tall, they definitely werent. The officer he had been partnered with after leaving the academy was still in the hospital after an encounter with them. They had severely beaten him and two officers responding to a silent alarm at a warehouse on the docks.

Such incidents had made all of them wary, more nervous perhaps than Maza and Bluestone realized. When Sam reached the door he shouted his warning again. "Police!" He twisted the knob and shoved the door open hard enough to cause it to bang against the wall. The creature sitting on the rooms narrow bed looked like a gargoyle. It was the first time he had actually seen one. He froze. Staring at the strange, alien creature was entirely different from hearing stories about them.

"Dont move!"

Sean had jumped up off the bed when the door crashed open. The police officer was staring at him wide eyed and pointing a gun at him. That was bad enough, but Sean really didnt like the way the man was shaking. _Hes scared of me?_ It didnt seem possible. The cop was the one with the gun. Raising his hands to prove he was cooperating had just occurred to him when Susan, whose pacing had carried her to the far side of the room, out of view of the door, chose that moment to interrupt.

The officer had been so focused on Sean that he hadnt noticed Susan until she spoke. It was an error that his instructors at the academy would have chewed him out for. "Hey! What are you doing? I-" The man spun to aim at her, squeezing the trigger almost by reflex when he saw another of the creatures coming towards him.

Elisa swept the room, looking for any sign of guards or of the kids, but the room, it looked like a doctors examination room, was empty. She emerged into the hall again in time to hear the shot. Matt was a few steps ahead of her as she rounded the corner into the short stretch of hall from which the sound had come.

The shot was followed by two screams, one of pain and one that stopped both detectives in their tracks. A glance out the window at the end of the hall showed it was still daylight, but there was no mistaking the sound of an enraged gargoyle. Through the open door near the window, a body flew, colliding with the wall with a loud crunch. Officer Mortimore slid to the floor and didnt get up. The next thing through the door was a heavy wooden chair, carried by a young gargoyle Elisa had never seen before. It spared them a glance and then smashed the heavy window with the chair. There was considerable force behind the blow, enough to dislodge the heavy metal screen on the outside.

The gargoyle dropped the chairs remains and went back into the room. He reappeared a second later carrying another gargoyle identical in coloring to himself. They vanished through the window within seconds of their initial appearance, before either detective could get over the shock of seeing a gargoyle active during the day.

Elisa reached the window first. There were more shouted warnings and shots from outside. They only spurred the young gargoyle on. Using a parked car as a springboard, he jumped into the air and spread his wings, looking decidedly unsteady. They worked well enough though to carry him across two lanes of traffic to the opposite building where he clung to an ornamental balcony. Elisa began to shout at the officers to hold their fire when she saw two of them attempting to draw a bead on the momentarily stationary gargoyles.

Whether by design or chance he loosed his grip and dropped onto a passing truck that had slowed down to avoid the three-car accident the gargoyles sudden appearance had caused. Unaware of his new passengers, the driver accelerated again quickly left the scene.

"Do you suppose that was them?" Matt asked beside her.

Elisa shook her head. "I sure hope not, Matt." She sighed. "But I think it probably was." She pulled her head back through the window when she heard voices behind her. "Officer down, repeat officer down. I need an ambulance at-" the SWAT team leader rattled off the address and glanced up at the two detectives. "Im not sure how bad it is."

In due course the ambulance arrived and the sweep of the building was finished. There was no sign of Sevarius, although they did find evidence that he had been there and left in a hurry. Worse, there was no sign of the twins. Elisa knew what that meant, but it wasnt something she could share with the other officers. They left believing that it had been a wild goose chase. The forensics people had better luck, but the head of the group gathering evidence wasnt sure what to make of what he found in the makeshift lab.

What Elisa dreaded most was facing the parents. She couldnt tell them what had happened without evidence, without the children themselves. She would have to put them off, much as she hated to do so. As soon as she got a free moment she called Derek and asked if there was any sign of Sevarius. Unfortunately there was none. If Sevarius had entered the sewers he hadnt stayed there long. Elisa thought that likely. The geneticist would have known it wouldnt be safe for him there and would have gone up to the street as soon as possible. He could have hopped on a bus a block from the building ten minutes after the raid began for all they knew. Or he might have been gone for an hour or more by the time they arrived.

Frustrating as Sevarius loss was, it was the children who worried her. They had been shot at by a police officer. She hadnt been able to question Mortimore about what happened, but she doubted that the children had attacked him. One had left carrying the other. If one of them were killed, there'd be hell to pay, no matter what the kids looked like.

************************************************************************

Susan gasped and cradled her injured wing awkwardly, unable to find a comfortable position for the new appendage. "It went straight through the ah, the membrane," Sean offered uncertainly. "It could have been worse. It didnt strike bone or anything."

Susan nodded, trying to take comfort where she could. It was not like it was a fatal wound. _Then again, what do I know about gargoyles?_ Thinking like that wasnt helping. The pain was subsiding after all, and the bleeding, what little there had been had stopped. She was almost sad about that. It had distracted them from larger issues.

Sevarius was gone, probably in jail. The police, whom theyd always been told were there to help them, had tried to kill them. There was literally nowhere they could go and no one they could turn to for help. Theyd been lucky to escape. Falling onto that truck had been lucky. The whole escape had been lucky.

Sean had seen the window and the rusty screen outside when he was first shown to the room and realized that even if they had a place to go it wasnt likely he could get out that way. The doctor had been watching them so closely, something which hadnt registered at the time, but made him suspicious later. The more he thought about it there was more and more problems he found in the way the doctor had behaved, the more suspicious he seemed. It was a bit late to worry about that though, he realized.

Susans thoughts had evidently been running parallel his own. "Do you think he was lying to us? I mean about well" Trailing off into an uncertain silence she looked at her brother through the shadows of the empty storeroom they were hiding in. The building itself didnt seem to be occupied, at least not on that floor.

Sean shook his head. "I dont know. I just dont know what to believe." He tried to focus on everything he knew as a fact. Focusing on a task, trying to work it out, always seemed to help calm him if nothing else. "All right. What facts do we have? Things we know are true."

Susan nodded and thought a moment. "We were both sick. Headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps and a few other things." Sean nodded. "We had the same symptoms, so we were probably sick with the same thing." Again Sean nodded and gestured for her to continue. "We know we both lost our family when we were babies. We dont know whether we were taken from them or what." Sean hesitated a moment and then nodded. "We know that we look alike, sorta. Sevarius told us we were brother and sister. Do we count that as a fact?"

Sean thought a moment before answering. "Id like to. I think that part is true." Susan nodded, willing to accept that. "We dont have any actual information about the gargoyles do we?"

Susan considered. "If we dont believe what Sevarius told us then I guess not, but if he was lying about that-"

"How much more was he lying about? Did this really have to happen?" Neither spoke for a long time each lost in their own thoughts of what they had lost. Each wondering if it had been necessary or if theyd been conned. Neither of them had an answer to the questions, and neither knew how to begin to find answers.

************************************************************************

"Youre sure it was the twins?"

"Two young gargoyles about the right age, moving around during the day? Who else could it be?"

Hunter frowned. "We need to find them at once. Any leads on the truck?"

Elisa bristled a bit at his presumption, but she knew he was right. "I got the plate number, but the twins could have left at any point along its route. Traffic was, well it was New York traffic." Hunter nodded, distractedly as he considered options.

"They could have jumped off anywhere. You had the truck stopped?"

"There was no sign of them, but they wouldnt have gone far during daylight. We should have the clans in the area as soon after sunset as possible."

"They arent going to be very trusting. The one thing we can be sure of is that Sevarius did his best to brainwash them against gargoyles. No telling what kind of nonsense he filled their heads with. They certainly arent going to trust the police at this point." Elisa winced. "Any idea what happened?"

"No. Mortimore went straight into surgery. Internal injuries from being hit with that chair." She leaned back in the chair. "I should have prepared them better. Kept a better eye on them."

"Blame isnt productive. Concentrate on solving the problem." Hunter looked around his small office and rose to leave. "Sunset is in twenty minutes and you have reports to file. Ill organize the clans."

"Captain Chavez will want to know whats going on. Every step of the way."

"Ill keep you both apprised of our progress. Talon and claw already have some of the people in the shelter looking for the twins. They might trust friendly human civilians when they wouldnt trust gargoyles or human cops. I think thats our best shot."

Elisa frowned, but nodded. It made sense. "Ill be waiting for your call." She left without another word.

************************************************************************

"Ive heard it said," Susan commented, "that New Yorkers never look up. I guess its true." Sean smiled genuinely for the first time in what seemed days. "I thought we would have been seen by now." She glanced around the roof where they had stopped to rest. They had traveled four blocks since sunset moving rooftop to rooftop, and the fact that they hadnt been spotted still amazed him.

"It isnt the people on the streets we need to watch out for," he answered. "Im more worried about the gargoyles."

"What about going underground then? Subways, sewers Are there really alligators down there?"

"No, but there are homeless people. Some of them might not react to us too well."

Susan frowned. "Homeless people. Like us?" That brought Sean up short. "Where are we going anyway?" It was another question Sean couldnt answer. Sean had a vague idea about getting out of the city, but nothing beyond that. He didnt know what to do.

"Maybe maybe we could try your parents. May-" Susan was shaking her head furiously. "Susan-"

"No! I cant let them see me like this."

"All right. Well think of something else, Im just not sure what." Susans stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. "Maybe dinner?"

"Dinner would be good," she agreed sheepishly, as her stomach let out another noise. "We need some food, and I need to rest, wing hurts."

"Yeah, um, I guess Ill have to snatch something." He looked over the edge of the building. It was a fairly short one for that part of town, only 10 floors. It was frustrating, but they didnt know how to use their wings effectively. So far they had only managed to glide short distances, always to a lower roof. They had stayed off street level mostly by using fire escapes to regain lost altitude. Susans injured wing slowed them considerably. She couldnt fly properly, and trying hurt her as wind passed through the hole in her wing. That left it to Sean to try to find food for them as Susan was rapidly tiring.

He knew the area roughly. There were a couple of small markets within a half-mile of their current hiding place. Bidding his sister to rest, he headed for the next roof, zeroing in on the one that he knew best. He moved to the next roof and from there he found his way to a parking garage that overlooked an unfortunately busy market. People were coming and going, and even though there were baskets of fruit and vegetables outside, ripe for snatching, he knew he would start a panic if he showed himself, let alone tried to take one of the baskets. Trying to remember the exact layout of the building, he considered his options. There was a back door where the food was delivered in an alley he could reach fairly easily, but the building where the market was located was taller than the parking structure, so getting there was going to be tricky.

Was there an alarm on the door? Were there any boxes of food outside that might make going inside unnecessary? What was the best way to get into that alley without being seen? He was also very aware of the passage of time. Susan was waiting for him.

************************************************************************

Sean had been gone for a long time. She wasnt sure how long, not having a watch, but it seemed like a long time. She grew tired of sitting and rose to pace. There were taller buildings around and she realized after a few moments that someone might see her, but she kept walking, needing something to do. Susan wasnt sure she cared anymore. Neither of them had any idea of what to do or where to go. To make matters worse, she couldnt find a comfortable position for her wings. The injured one especially caused her problems. Holding it still too long hurt, moving it hurt. She didnt know what to do.

_Just one more problem I cant solve_, she lamented. She leaned against the air conditioning unit on the roof and stared at the concrete under her feet. A sound interrupted the impending bout of self-pity. Looking up, she saw a figure circling the roof. Gargoyle! Looking around frantically, she headed for the edge of the roof, looking for a way down. All of the images Sevarius had shown her of gargoyles flashed through her mind. gargoyles attacking people. Gargoyles tearing up Time Square. Gargoyles fighting each other. There was no way of knowing what this one would do, but Susan had no intention of hanging around to find out. Spurred by adrenaline, she dove off the edge of the building, spread her wings, and dropped like a stone when her injured wing folded.

She cried out in alarm at seeing the street rushing toward her and didnt hear the sound of wings, at least not until a pair of strong arms closed about her middle and lifted her up. "Hold still," a female voice admonished when she started to struggle. Susans wings were in the way and she couldnt get a good look at the one carrying her. Fortunately, it was a short flight. Her rescuer landed on the roof and set her on her feet. "Are you all right?" the gargoyle asked as Susan pulled away and turned to stare.

Standing before her was a slender female with blue skin and wild red hair. She wore a look somewhere between puzzled and annoyed. "Well? Are you all right?" Susan nodded not sure how to proceed. She took a step back from the creature, not wanting to make any sudden moves. "What is your name child?" the stranger asked, growing increasingly puzzled at the girls behavior.

"S-susan."

Demona stared at the hatchling, baffled. Her behavior was bizarre. She seemed almost frightened of her. _Since she doesnt know me_, Demona reflected bitterly, _that seems unlikely_. She suspected that the clan frightened the twins into behaving with stories about her. The two were always polite when she encountered them but unmistakably wary. It hadnt been that way the first time they met. At first Graeme and Arianna had greeted her as they might a favorite aunt, something that still puzzled her. That had changed quickly, though. They were friendly, and did not act as if they were afraid of her, but they kept their distance, nonetheless. This hatchling, however, was clearly terrified of her, and she wanted to know why. She noticed the awkward way the girl held her wings and remembered the way the left wing had folded when she left the roof.

"What happened to your wing?" she asked. Susan glanced at her injured wing and shifted it, as if trying to hide it. The movement evoked a wince of pain. "Im not going to hurt you," Demona admonished. "Please. Let me see?"

Calmed somewhat by her tone, Susan extended the wing so she could examine it. She drew back though when Demona growled softly. "A bullet hole. Who shot you?" Her eyes glowed red for a moment, and Susan realized that it wasnt her the gargoyle was angry with. "What happened?" she prompted in a softer tone.

"P-police," Susan answered hesitantly. "I was waiting for the doctor when one came into the room. H-he shot me when he saw me."

Demona held back her anger with an effort, not wanting to panic the already frightened girl. Police shooting gargoyles on sight. For some reason, it surprised her. She had thought that her kind was actually making some headway with the public, but apparently that wasnt the case. Then, what Susan had said registered. "What doctor?" The girl hesitated a moment, clearly hesitant for some reason. Demona had a dozen questions she wanted immediate answers to, but she knew she wouldnt get them if she frightened the child.

Susan remembered what Sevarius had hinted at about his friend who had stolen them from the gargoyles when they were babies. There were parts of the story that rang false, but she didnt know enough to judge one way or the other. Should she mention Sevarius name? If the doctor had honestly been trying to help them it would be the worst thing she could do, but she wasnt sure she believed the doctors story. It was all way too X-files. She could see the other was waiting for an answer, and decided to take a chance on getting the other side of the story. Sevarius. Doctor Sevarius." The effect on the gargoyle was electric.

"Sevarius?" Her eyes flared. "What has that madman got to do with you? Did he capture you and your clan?"

"He had me kidnapped, took me away from my family." That was certainly true. Why did this one refer to him as a madman? "He told me things," she said hesitantly. "Things about gargoyles." She suddenly remembered she was a gargoyle. "I-I mean gargoyles here." This wasnt going to be easy. What was she supposed to tell this creature? "I dont know the truth. He told us so many things. Bad things I-I mean. When I stop and think about them though. Well, theres a lot that didnt make sense."

Demona took a second to puzzle though this. "He wanted to set you against the Manhattan clan?" Her tone was hesitant, unsure of what precisely was going on. _Later_, she chided herself. It was time to let actions speak louder than words. "Never mind that for now. I can treat that wing for you. It must hurt. Ive been shot a few times myself. I can help you find your clan as well. Did Sevarius capture everyone?"

Susan shook her head. "No. Just my brother and me. He went to get some food. Hell be back soon."

***********************************************************************

Sean had his plan. Now all he needed was to get to the next roof and-. He saw it when he turned around. He didnt hit himself in the forehead the way he had seen actors in ancient sitcom reruns do, but he felt like doing it. A vending machine. There was a vending machine in an alcove not twenty feet away.

A lack of spare change didnt pose a problem. Hed been planning to steal food anyway. It amazed him how strong hed become and how easily the door of the glass-fronted vending machine was to yank open. There was a small sound of tearing metal as the lock gave way and Sean took a moment to be amazed at how easy it had been before he started snatching things from the racks. Chips, snack cakes, spiced meat sticks, and candy bars. He realized that he was ravenous himself and tore open one of the snack cakes.

"Didnt have any change?" Sean spun to see a short green gargoyle with wings stretched between wrists and ankles. It gave him what it probably believed was a winning smile. "Im Lex. Dont worry," he hastily reassured Sean when he saw him getting ready to bolt. "Im not here to hurt you." He considered carefully how to proceed. He was pretty sure this was one of the missing kids, and Hunter had impressed on them the need for caution. There was no knowing what kind of lies Sevarius had told. "I just want to talk. Are you Sean?" The boy backed away.

"H-how di-"

"The guy who was working for Sevarius, the one who kidnapped you, he was arrested, told the police everything."

"He told them they needed to shoot my sister?" Sean demanded sarcastically. How did the gargoyle know about the raid? Did he have spies in the police department? Did they somehow arrange it? And had he just reached an entirely new level of paranoid?

"That was an accident," Lex hastened to assure him. "I mean it had to be. The guy was just just frightened I guess."

Sean blinked, not sure he was hearing correctly. "We scared him?!" Under other circumstances the question might have been funny, Lex reflected as he tried to think of a way to convince Sean to trust him.

"Is your sister badly hurt? I mean does she need a doctor?"

Sean shook his head. "Why should I tell you anything? You guys did this to us! Sevarius told us everything. The experiments. The babies that" Sean broke off, not sure what was true. Inconsistencies and unanswered questions assailed him. There were too many parts of the doctors story that didnt make sense, and there was the way he always came across, like a bad actor.

"What? What did he tell you? Sevarius is a pretty good liar, we know." He considered a moment. "Well actually hes a bad liar. Hes kind of melodramatic."

"And kind of oily" he searched for a word he had heard in a movie once. "smarmy, when he wants to look sincere?"

Lex chuckled. "Smarmy?" He considered. "Yeah. Thats him all over." He grew serious. "He may be a bad liar, but hes very dangerous. We dont know what happened to you, but we do know Sevarius has been involved from the beginning. One of our human friends is a police detective." He raised a hand to stop Sean from breaking in too soon. "She was assigned to investigate your kidnapping. At the time she didnt know it had anything to do with gargoyles or Sevarius. She realized just the other day that your name was odd. Your name and your sisters. Weve been looking for you ever since."

"Odd. What are you talking about?" What about his name? The conversation was growing increasingly confusing. "Whos we?"

"We. As in my clan, weve been looking for you since we heard about the raid. A-and your names Elisa rearranged them. She showed us how she worked it out. Your sisters name and yours are anagrams for Anton Sevarius." Staring at him incredulously, Sean started to work his way slowly around the gargoyle. "You can work it out yourself. He named you. Hes kept track of you. I know its a lot to accept, but I can prove it if you would come with me." Sean hesitated. Lex seemed sincere, but he could simply be a better liar. It was all happening too fast. He realized the gargoyle was talking again. "Weve got a good doctor back at the Sanctuary. He can patch her up and you can hear our side of things."

"Sevarius wasnt telling the whole truth, but some of it sounded right."

Lex shrugged. "Maybe some of it was. I dont know what he told you." He shook his head as if dismissing the issue for the moment. "Your sister is whats important now. We can help her if youll let us. And," he gestured at the mess Sean had made of the vending machine, "we have better food there."

Sean considered carefully. His options were very limited. Susan needed help and he had no other options. "All right, he agreed reluctantly. "I guess I don t have a lot of choices."

"I promise you wont regret it." Reluctantly, Sean followed as he was led out onto the top of the parking structure. Lex made a call on a radio he took out of his pouch. "One of the clan leaders, Hunter, will meet us, but the rest will head back."

************************************************************************

Demona found herself staring at the girl, unsure why she was doing so, what she was looking for. The girls coloring was very close to her own skin and hair pigmentation, even though her hair was longer and finer. She had a passing interest in genetics, one brought on by an incident she preferred to forget, and she found herself wondering about the girls clan. Was there some connection to the Scottish gargoyles?

Susan was being very close-mouthed about her clan for some reason. The girl was suspicious, cautious, and Demona couldnt fault her for that. The wound wasnt bad, and it would heal with a day of stone sleep. In the meantime, she was in no real danger, and that left Demona time to consider the puzzle she provided. She busied herself with cleaning the wound to prevent infection. The wing, she noted was much like her own, but there was one important difference.

It had an extra finger. There were a wide variety of wing structures, true, but she had never seen this. It occurred to her that there was another possible difference. She took Susans hand and checked. Five fingers. She dropped the hand and backed away, eyes flashing. "Sevarius," she growled. "I should have known with him involved."

"What? Known what?" Susan did not like the way Demonas eyes were glowing.

"Youre one of Sevarius projects," the last word came out as a sneer. "A hybrid freak." She turned and stalked away.

"Sevarius? He lied to us didnt he? I dont know whats happened to me, but I dont see how you can blame me for it." Demona didnt turn, but she did stop to consider. She had been a dupe herself in the past and knew how it felt to be used. Of what the Sisters had put her through she had only vague suspicions, but she knew that she had been a pawn in some game of theirs.

Xanatos had played similar games with Goliath and his clan, some of them involving Sevarius. As disgusting as she found the idea of hybrids, she couldnt blame a child for being used by someone who had deceived people far older and wiser than herself. She sighed. "I suppose I cant blame you for what you are." The words came with some difficulty and she knew that there had been a time, not too long ago, that it wouldnt have mattered to her.

It wasnt clear to her when things had begun to change. Perhaps it was Angelas influence, or the time shed spent with Andrea. Whatever had caused the change, however, she was not inclined to simply destroy the girl as she once would have been. At the very least, she decided, she needed to know the full story. "Tell me what he told you. What lies did he spin?"

"Id like to know that as well." Demona spun to see an unfamiliar gargoyle standing at the edge of the roof. How had he gotten so close without her noticing? Her eyes narrowed as the stranger approached. "Youre not a gargoyle," she realized. "Ive seen you before."

"Yes, when you were harassing Delihla, for the same reason youre angry with this girl. Shes half-human."

Demona growled. "Dont mention that things name in my presence!" Susan was backing away quietly when the sound of approaching wings caught everyones attention. Sean and Lexington landed near Susan. Lexington glared at Demona while Sean looked on in wary confusion. Demona took note of the boy, obviously the brother Susan had mentioned, but dismissed him and Lexington as potential threats. Instead she turned back to the stranger. "Who are you?"

"Hunter," the stranger answered coolly. "I have no quarrel with you. Please go."

She shook her head. "I do as I please, mutate. Right now I want to know what is behind this. What does Sevarius have to do with this exactly?" She looked back at Susan. "Well?"

"Im not sure," she began. "He told us that gargoyles were dying out. He said that they had started taking human babies and changing them." Demonas eyes flashed red and Susan cringed. "Something was happening to us, before we met him. We were changing." Sean moved to stand by his sister, not liking the way the female gargoyle was glaring.

"We didnt know what was happening to us. It hurt so much, and he promised to make it stop. There were parts of his story we didnt understand, but it was the only explanation that made any kind of sense." He stopped and looked down, unable to meet Demonas glowing eyes. "I I didnt know what to believe. He told us that we would probably die if he didnt speed things up. He told us that gargoyles were to blame for what was happening to us. What were we supposed to believe? What were we supposed to do?"

"There was nothing you could have done," Lex assured them. "A doctor who works with our clan thinks that the change would have happened anyway. Sevarius was telling the truth about that."

"What he didnt tell you," Hunter cut in, "is that he was the one who did the original genetic engineering. Until I actually saw you there were questions I didnt know how to answer. Now," he turned to Demona. "I have even more questions."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded hotly.

"Weve never met Demona, but I know you. Ive studied you."

"And?"

"You first worked with Sevarius, to my knowledge, three years ago when he created the clones for you and Thailog. We all know how wonderfully that turned out."

"Dont mock me," she warned. "Thailogs betrayal has nothing to do with this."

"Doesnt it?" He glanced at the twins. "Do you hate them as much as you hate Delihla?" he asked curiously. "Delihla exists at all because you were deceived, used. What was your part in this? Is their current condition as much your fault as his?"

"What are you talking about?" Demona suddenly sounded uncertain as she stopped and looked, truly looked at the twins.

"It seems your connection with Sevarius goes back much further than any of us knew." He glanced at the twins. "Perhaps thirteen years?"

"What do you know about that?" she demanded. "Only the people responsible for what was done to me would know-" Her eyes widened as she looked at Hunter then at the twins. "The eggs. The doctor said the failures had been destroyed, as they tried to kill me." She rounded on him. "You were there?!" She launched herself at him with an enraged screech. Hunter met her head on, straight-arming her in the face and then shifting his weight slightly to one side to redirect her momentum while using his remaining arm to ward off her talons. Stunned, she hit the roof several feet away but quickly came to her feet. "It would appear you got a taste of your own medicine," she sneered preparing for another attack. "How did it feel to be used as a lab rat?"

Lex herded the children away as quickly as he could, not wanting them anywhere near the fight. Hunter noted this out of the corner of his eye, but kept his attention on Demona, prepared to intercept her should the focus of her rage suddenly shift. "Do you know what truly amazes me about you, Demona?" he asked in a conversational tone. "Its not that time and again your paranoia and desire for petty revenge has cost you family, friends, and allies. Its not even that, even though youve suffered the same consequences for the same poor choices over and over again, youve failed to learn the appropriate lesson." He allowed his voice to take on a distinctly mocking tone. "Its that, despite the incredible number of people youve pissed off over the years, you remain your own worst enemy."

It worked. Demona was now completely focused on him. _Yay__ me_. _Now all I have to do is survive the attention_. She was being more careful this time, perhaps suspecting he was trying to draw her into another rash charge. Knowing that he had little time to make an impression, he pushed ahead. "When I learned about the twins yesterday I wondered where the gargoyle DNA came from. Looking at them now, though, its fairly obvious. That only leaves the question of how exactly you were involved. I know how you feel about humans. I doubt you would voluntarily participate in a hybridization project. A moment ago, when you asked me how it felt to be a lab rat you answered that question." Demona looked unsure of herself. "I think you know full well how it feels." He relaxed his stance and held out a hand beseechingly. "Please Demona. Were not your enemies. Tell us what happened?"

Demona relaxed slightly, but still looked wary. "You expect me to believe that you deduced all of this? How?"

"Their names." Hunter told her what Elisa had discovered about the anagrams. "I cant believe you would have worked with Sevarius if youd known of his involvement."

"I didnt know," she growled. "If I had I would have killed him on sight. You have no idea what they did to me. Its just another debt I owe the humans." The word humans came out sounding like an obscenity. She turned and stalked to the edge of the roof. Hunter thought she might leave and debated with himself over whether that would be such a bad thing. He could live with unanswered questions, and Demona was too volatile to risk a prolonged confrontation with. Under the current circumstances she was extremely unpredictable and Hunter had never liked random factors.

She stopped and began to speak, much to everyones surprise. "It had been almost a century since Id seen another gargoyle. I had started to believe that I truly was the last. Then I heard rumors of a clan living in Georgia. I should have been more cautious, but I walked eagerly into the trap like a fool." No one spoke, content to wait until she continued or departed.

Demona calmed herself with an effort. She knew they were waiting for her to give them all the gory, shameful details, and could almost feel the weight of Hunters expectation. _Suffer_ she thought smugly, deriving some small pleasure from balking him. The twins, however, gave her pause, although she wasnt sure why. She owed them nothing.

After a moment of wrestling with a conscience she hadnt known she possessed, she decided to offer them some reassurance. Turning to face them, she said, "I dont hate you. I dont blame you for what happened." They said nothing. "Just dont look to me for anything. Im not y-" She stopped, suddenly seeing Angelas face instead of Susans. How would Angela have reacted? Her daughter had once told her that Goliath had at first denied paternity, clinging stubbornly to gargoyle ways. It had hurt her when she thought that Goliath didnt care for her as a father should. "Just dont," she finished, mixed emotions; shame, guilt, and some she couldnt place washing over her, and launched herself from the roof.

Silently the twins watched her go, not knowing what to think. Sean glanced at the huge lion-like creature. Its expression was hard to read, but he got the distinct impression that the creature was thinking hard, concentrating on what Demona had said. Finally, he broke the silence. "Whats goin on? Who was that?"

"I think," Lexington began hesitantly, "that was your mother."

_My condolences_, Hunter thought glancing at the twins, but he had better taste than to say it aloud. The children had been through enough already. "Its a long story, and Demona has given me more of it than I think she realizes." He left it at that, wanting to verify it independently before he shared his speculations. Instead, he looked to Lexington. "Lets get back to the Labyrinth. Doctor Goldblum should tend to that wing."

"Whats going to happen to us?" Susan asked hesitantly. "I mean can we get changed back?"

"I dont know," Hunter answered honestly. "Anything is possible."

"Dont worry," Lex reassured them. "Well find some way to help you. In the meantime, youve got a place to stay, and you get to meet some family you didnt know you had." The twins didnt look terribly excited at the prospect. It was too close to what Sevarius had told them. He had said the gargoyles would No! He couldnt allow himself to think like that. Sean glanced at Susan and she looked as unsure as he felt. Some of what Sevarius had told them was true and some of it was clearly a lie. Which was which though?

"I-I guess we dont have much choice," Susan said hesitantly. Lex looked stricken, but tried to hide it.

"I understand," he said. "Ive been there myself. Youve had so many lies told to you that you dont know what to believe. Will you give us a chance anyway?" Sean nodded.

"Okay." It was all they were going to get for the time being, Lex realized. He could understand their attitude, his own trust having been abused so often, first by the Pack, then by Madoc. If that was the best the twins could offer, he decided, it would have to do.

THE END


End file.
